“I don’t think I have to answer any reports,” Gambhir said on the eve of the fifth Test. “A few honest words. That’s all I can say. Honesty is very important if you want to continue to achieve great things.”
But Gambhir said he was “very, very confident” that India could get the win they needed to tie the series in Sydney and retain the trophy. “I think if someone had said 40 to 45 days ago that we were going to be in a situation like this, that we could come to Sydney and draw this series, we would have been in a good position. I don’t think anything is out of control.”
“When it comes to Tests like this, it’s not that we don’t bat well or that we don’t bowl well. If we didn’t bat and bowl well, we wouldn’t have won the Test match and we wouldn’t have won.” 2- It’s not like we were losing by 1, so it could have been much worse. So I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.
“We know we have the skill set. We have the individuals. We have everything in this dressing room to be able to win Test matches here. We’ll continue to do incredible things, not just here, but probably in the future.” The same way. “
“First of all, every individual, every individual knows in which field he has to work,” Gambhir said. “And I’m not talking about individuals here, because in the end you win as a team and you lose as a team. And when you’re playing for your country, everyone We try to contribute as much as we can. So that’s important.”
“And it’s not that discussions between players and coaches should be known to everyone. It should just be between them. You (outsiders) just see the results. Either that or unfortunately, this sport is only known for results.” But the conversation between individuals and the dressing room should stop there. ”
In Melbourne, as India looked to draw the Test match, several of their batsmen, from Rohit to Kohli to Yashasvi Jaiswal to Pant, played attacking shots to get ahead. Ahead of taking charge of his first series as India’s Test coach in September last year, Gambhir said he was faced with various situations, whether it was scoring 400 in a day or securing a batting average and improving his batting average. He emphasized that he wants to be a member of a team that can adapt to the current situation. draw. On Thursday, he was asked whether a hitter playing his natural game could go against the game situation.
“What’s important is the team-first ideology,” Gambhir said. “This is a team sport and you have to play what the team is asking you to do. It’s as simple as it can be. People can play their natural game. But still in a team sport, individuals Just contribute. It’s the team.” (That’s important) I think if you have to play a certain way, you have to do it.
“I don’t want to talk about individuals. I think everyone knows where they stand. And like I said, in team sports, it’s just the team. You have to understand what the team wants from the players. You have to expect them to go.” Whether they go for a bad session or not, whether they go on offense or not, that’s all that matters to me in team sports. ”
Gambhir reiterated that Indian cricket has always been strong, even though it has had its ups and downs (win in this year’s T20 World Cup) and downs (the disastrous home series defeat against New Zealand).
“I think Indian cricket will always be safe until honest people sit in that room,” he said. “And integrity is the most important thing in any transition, and it’s not about phasing out senior players or bringing in younger players.
“Ultimately, the only thing that can keep you in the locker room is performance. And that starts with all of us. Not just the players, but the coaches as well.”
Alagappan Muthu is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
