Gautam Gambhir rates Virat Kohli as best finisher in ODIs

Gautam Gambhir praised Virat Kohli after he scored 95 against New Zealand in the ODI World Cup 2023. The former Indian cricketer rated Virat as the best finisher in ODIs after he took India home. The former World Cup winner claimed that the term 'finisher' is a tag created by the media to hype the individuals. 

"I have never understood why the finisher's tag is given only to Nos. 5 to 7. An opener can also be a finisher. A No. 11 can also be a finisher. This has just been created by the media," said Gambhir after Virat won the match for New Zealand. Gambhir felt that there was no concept like a finisher in ODIs about 10 years in the past. 

"There was probably no finisher 10 years ago. There can't be a better finisher than Virat Kohli because of the number of games he has won. So don't call only the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 as finishers. Whoever scores the last run is a finisher," added Gambhir. The former Indian batter said that there cannot be a better finisher than Virat for the number of games he has won for India. 

'Obsession with stats needs to end if India have to win the World Cup' - Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir further expressed his disappointment about having an obsession with individual records. Gambhir felt sad that instead of celebrating Kohli's knock, people were unhappy about Virat missing his hundred. "Think about how obsessed we are with a hundred that we have stopped remembering the 95-run knock. He has won the match. It doesn't matter if it was going to be the 49th or 100th hundred," said Gambhir. 

Gambhir asked the fans to praise Virat for winning the match, rather than feeling bad about him missing his hundred. "Praise him because he won you the match. Zero to 95 is a big journey. Praise him because of the pressure under which he batted. We need to say repeatedly that the obsession with stats needs to end if India have to win the World Cup," concluded Gambhir.