WATCH: Gautam Gambhir takes aim at MS Dhoni through his remarks on Jos Buttler’s poor captaincy in ODI World Cup 2023

England suffered an embarrassing 8-wicket loss to Sri Lanka in the 25th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 on Thursday, October 26 in Bengaluru. The three Lions are currently sitting at the 9th position in the points table as they have lost 4 out of 5 matches so far in the tournament.

Meanwhile, during the commentary, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir made a subtle remark about former legendary India captain MS Dhoni. While discussing Jos Buttler’s performance as the captain of the England team, Gambhir emphasized that winning or losing a tournament should not solely be attributed to the captain. He suggested that it’s a collective effort and the captain shouldn’t be either excessively credited for success or unfairly blamed for failure.

Watch the video here:

https://twitter.com/ishantraj51/status/1717744114320691224

“I have one question for all the fans. If a captain alone can win you the World Cup, then Jos Buttler could’ve won England this tournament. Why couldn’t he win? Because batters didn’t score runs, and bowlers didn’t pick wickets. If the entire credit for the tournament victory goes only to the captain, the remaining 14 players would be upset. If the captain alone can win you the World Cup, then in one year, Jos Buttler is not a bad captain, nor was he a good one year ago. So, to maintain balance is important.” Gambhir was quoted as saying by Cricinformer.

A brilliant all-round performance by Sri Lanka

Interestingly, this is not the first instance of Gambhir levelling criticism at Dhoni. He frequently voices his discontent with the former cricketing legend, claiming that Dhoni receives excessive credit for India’s triumph in the 2011 ODI World Cup. Gambhir, a left-handed batter, delivered a crucial performance with his 97-run innings in the final against Sri Lanka. However, in his view, people tend to solely recall the six that Dhoni struck to secure the victory.

Coming back to the England vs. Sri Lanka match, the reigning champions suffered a resounding defeat, losing by 8 wickets. England, who batted first, had a dismal performance at the crease. Their wickets tumbled quickly, and they were dismissed for a mere 156 runs. Sri Lanka then chased down the target with ease and secured an 8-wicket victory. This setback has significantly harmed England’s prospects of making it to the semi-finals.