Gautam Gambhir explains what makes Virat Kohli the most effective batsman in shorter format

Bengaluru, June 16: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir may have questioned Virat Kohli's leadership skills, but has only admiration when it comes to the Indian skipper's batting ability.

Gambhir, who has often criticized Kohli as a captain, had nothing but praise, when asked what makes the Indian skipper so effective in the shortest format.

"He (Kohli) was always a very smart cricketer, but then he turned his entire T20 career into a very successful one, just by being supremely fit," Gambhir said on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"Probably because he does not have the strength of Chris Gayle, he doesn't have the ability of AB de Villiers, he probably does not have the ability of somebody likes Jacques Kallis or Brian Lara," Gambhir added.

"The biggest strength he's got is now his fitness and he's turned that into his game as well, that's why he has become so successful, so you got to give it to the guy. The most important thing is that he runs really well between the wickets, not many people do it."

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Gambhir also explained why Kohli is different from rest of the pack in cricket right now and that is solely due to his ability to rotate strike, which he feels is very important in the shortest format of the game.

"I think in T20 cricket people forget, people do not give enough importance to dot balls. If you play less dot balls you're always under less pressure, you could rotate the strike and take a single of every ball," Gambhir added.

"The easiest thing to do in cricket is to hit a six or a four, because ultimately, you'e playing that high-risk shot. If it comes off, everyone loves it. If it doesn't come off, probably you are back in the pavilion.

"But there are very few cricketers in world cricket at this time who can rotate of every ball and that is what Kohli does really well and that's why he's different from the rest.

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Gambhir gave a good example of Rohit Sharma, who is a big-hitter, but sometimes lacks the ability of rotating strike like how Kohli does.

"You see Rohit Sharma, probably he doesn't have that quality which Kohli has to rotate the strike. Rohit has the ability to hit those big shots, but that's where Kohli is more consistent.

Gambhir also stressed on the fact that many batsmen struggle to rotate strike against spin, but Kohli does that very well.

"Gayle or De Villiers don't have that ability to rotate the strike, especially against spin bowling, but Kohli has that, that's why he averages 50."