“I don’t feel I need to respond to any reports,” Gambhir said on the eve of the fifth Test. “There are some honest words. That’s all I can say. Honesty is extremely important if you want to move forward and achieve great things.”
Gambhir, however, was “very, very confident” that India could get the win they needed in Sydney to draw the series and retain the trophy. “If someone had said 40-45 days ago that we would be in this position, that we could come to Sydney and draw this series, then that’s a good position to be in. And I don’t think anything got out of control. Is .
“When you come into a Test like this, it is not that the batting was not good or the bowling was not good. If the batting and bowling were not good, we would not have won the Test match or we would not have won.” We were behind 2-1. We could have been in a worse situation, so, as I said, I don’t think there’s anything worrisome.
“We know we have the skill set. We have the individuals. We have what it takes in the dressing room to win Test matches here. Not just here, maybe do some incredible things in the future.”
Gambhir said, “First of all, all the individuals, all the individuals know in which field they have to work.” “And it’s not like I’m talking about individuals here. Because ultimately, you win as a team and you lose as a team. And when you’re playing for your country, Everyone tries to contribute their maximum. So, it is important.”
“And it’s not that the debate between a player and a coach should be known to everyone. It should just be between them. You (outsiders) just see the results. And, fortunately or unfortunately, this game is only about the results. But the interaction between individuals and the dressing room should remain there.”
In Melbourne, when India were trying to draw the Test match, many of their batsmen from Rohit to Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal to Pant played aggressive shots to get out. Gambhir, in charge of his first series as India’s Test coach in September last year, had highlighted that he wanted to be part of a team that can adapt to different conditions, whether it is scoring 400 runs in a day. Whether to make it or batting time to secure it. Drag. On Thursday he was asked whether a batsman playing his natural game could be at odds with the match situation.
“It’s the team-first philosophy that matters,” Gambhir said. “It’s a team sport and you have to play what the team needs from you. It’s as simple as it can get. People can play natural. But still, in a team sport, it’s the individuals who contribute. It’s the team (it’s important). If you need to play a certain way, I think you have to do it.
“I don’t want to talk about individuals. I think everybody knows where they are. And like I just said, in a team sport, it’s only the team. You have to expect the players to do the same Whatever the team needs you to do. Whether they go into a bad session, whether they go out on offense, because to me that’s all that matters in a team game.”
Gambhir reiterated that Indian cricket – despite its ups and downs (win last year’s T20 World Cup) and downs (whitewash in the home series against New Zealand) – will always be strong.
“I think Indian cricket will always be in safe hands as long as you have honest people sitting in that room,” he said. “And honesty is the most important thing for any change. And it is not about excluding senior players or including youngsters.”
“At the end of the day, the only thing that can keep you going in the dressing room is performance. And that starts with all of us. Not just the players, but the coaches too.”
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
