IPL 2021: Not everyone is fortunate to end on a high – Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli

Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that not everyone is fortunate enough to end on a high. Kohli’s reign as Royal Challengers Bangalore ended after the team lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by four wickets at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Kohli led RCB for the first time in 2013 but he could not lead the team to any IPL title as he took the captaincy baton from Daniel Vettori.

Kohli led RCB in a total of 110 IPL matches in which the team won 66 games and lost 70 whereas four matches ended in no result. In fact, the team had a good run in the league stage of the ongoing season as they won nine out of the 14 matches to finish at third place with 18 points.

Kohli could not lead RCB to glory and it must have been disappointing for him as he has always given more than 100%. In fact, it has been noticed that RCB was not able to come up with collective efforts over the years and they were heavily reliant on the shoulders of Kohli and AB de Villiers. Furthermore, they didn’t have the best bowling line-ups in the earlier seasons.

Meanwhile, Gavaskar gave examples of legendary players like Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, who both could not finish their Test careers with a big score.

Gavaskar said while talking to Star Sports, “It certainly is (disappointing). Everybody wants to finish on a high. Individually, you want to finish on a high. But these things don’t always happen according to what you wish or your fans wish.

“Look at what happened to Sir Don Bradman. Just 4 runs are needed (for 100 average), he gets out for zero in his last innings. Look at what happened to Sachin Tendulkar. He would have wanted to finish with a hundred (in his last Test) but he got 79 in his 200th Test match.

Kohli had taken the team to the final in the 2016 edition of the tournament but they could not cross the final hurdle against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The talisman had amassed 973 runs in that season. RCB also qualified for the playoff stages in 2020 and 2021 under Kohli’s stint as captain.

“But can one ever dispute what he has done for RCB? He has done magnificently. There was one year where he got 973 runs in T20s in the IPL. Fell short of 27 runs for 1000 runs.

“That’s such a rarity. Look at what he has done for RCB. He has given RCB a kind of profile, a kind of brand recognition that very few cricketers have given to their franchise. “Therefore, yes, it is sad to see him not winning. But the fact he is committed to RCB till he plays RCB just tells you his commitment to RCB,” Gavaskar said.