Former New Zealand player Scott Styris has shared his thoughts on the relationship between Virat Kohli and India coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Scott Styris said that both Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir will “bite their tongues” during the upcoming ODI series in Sri Lanka.
Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli had verbal spats in the past during the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, the Delhi cricketer seemed to make amends during the IPL 2024. Gambhir, who replaced Rahul Dravid as the coach of the Indian team, described their relationship as private and between two mature people.
The 35-year-old batsman has arrived in Colombo for the three-match series, scheduled to be played from August 2 to 7. The Indian T20I team is currently in Pallekele for the three-match T20I series. The Indian T20I team players and the coaching staff, led by Gautam Gambhir, will arrive in Colombo after the final match.
They’ll both just bite their tongues – Scott Styris
In an interaction with India Today.in, Scott Styris said that Virat Kohli will closely watch how Gautam Gambhir leads the team. Styris added that Gambhir wants Kohli to provide support to the younger players in the team.
“Yes, it’s a very good question. I think you have to wait and see what happens. I don’t think anyone can sit here and say it’s going to work so well or it’s not going to work. I think both players will just bite their tongue a little bit and watch and see the way in Virat’s case, Gautam will look to lead the team and Gautam will look to Virat’s leadership to help all the younger players,” Styris said.
It will be Virat Kohli’s first ODI match after the 2024 ODI World Cup defeat against Australia in November. The right-handed batsman has only played T20I matches after that heartbreaking defeat. He will return to the 50-over format to focus on preparation for the upcoming 2025 Champions Trophy early next year.
I don’t know anything about that relationship – Scott Styris
The cricketer-turned-commentator said that Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir have a strong cricketing mind and will find a way to help the Indian team. Styris admitted that he is not aware of the relationship between Kohli and Gambhir.
“There’s a lot of things we don’t know about that relationship and how it’s going to work in a team with two different players who also have two different levels of power in that group. That’s why I think they’re both… First of all, they’re both fantastic cricketers. They both have very good cricketing brains. I think they’d both be smart enough to find a way in which it can be beneficial to the team and their performances,” Styris added.
Virat Kohli scored 765 runs in the 2023 ODI World Cup, including three hundreds and six fifties. In total, he has scored 13,848 runs in 292 ODIs, including 50 hundreds and 72 fifties. He is behind only Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) and Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) among the leading run-scorers in ODI cricket.
Also read: ‘School kids were playing’: Kamran Akmal lashes out at Sri Lankan batsmen after losing T20I series to India
