Former South African middle-order batter AB de Villiers has expressed his concerns over Team India losing the just-concluded T20I series to England by 0-4. Notably, India also lost the two-match T20I series to Ireland by 0-2.
Speaking exclusively on his YouTube channel, the former batter has advised that the Indian batters shouldn’t always play in the fifth gear. Furthermore, he reckoned that there are a lot of eyes and fingers that will be pointed at the head coach Gautam Gambhir.
“Lots to worry about in the T20Is. Lots of eyes and fingers will be pointed at Gambhir. Yes, he needs to take ownership of how this team will move forward. He’s got all the credentials to do so. Maybe this was not a bad thing to get a bit of a wake-up call. Bring those players who have scored a lot of runs in the IPL a little bit down to earth again. Let them understand that this is international cricket. You need to have more than one or two gears. You cannot play in the fifth gear all the time,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.
Additionally, AB de Villiers has insisted that the Indian cricketing fraternity needs to be patient with the make-up of the Indian T20I team, adding that they don’t get a new Bumrah, Kohli or Rohit overnight.
“It was tough to watch India going down 4-0. I did not see that coming. But also not completely unexpected because of the lack of experience and that is the word that comes to mind. The leadership becomes all the more important. I know there’s a lot of fingers pointed to Gautam Gambhir. It is not only him. He plays a huge role. But you will have to be patient with the make-up of that team. You don’t just get a new Bumrah, Virat, or Rohit overnight. It takes time. I think they could have played better and should have been more consistent. I felt they lacked a game plan at times,” he added.
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