Ranked No.4 in Tests and No.5 in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, but India head coach Gautam Gambhir believes that his side is not struggling in the longest format of the game, rather undergoing a transition. Under the former Indian opening batter, the team has faced two home white-washes and also failed to qualify for the WTC final in the previous cycle. The Shubman Gill-led side might have won the Galle Test against Sri Lanka, but the road to the WTC final at the Oval seems tough, considering India need to win six of their remaining eight Tests.
The task is easier said than done, considering India is to play two Tests against New Zealand (away) and five against Australia at home. Ever since Gambhir took over as head coach, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have all called time on their Test careers.
Gambhir might have won the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup as coach, but plenty of criticism has been levelled at him over India’s poor Test results. However, the World Cup winner is not bothered with what is being said on the outside as he remains focused on winning trophies.
Under Gambhir, India have yet to win a Test series over England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Both New Zealand and the Proteas blanked India in the Test series when the two teams visited, while India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia and the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy to England, which ended in a 2-2 draw.
“Criticism? My job is to win trophies, not views and likes. That’s all I believe in, and that is the difference between me and everyone,” Gambhir said during a pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“We are not struggling that much. Rankings do not matter. I think we are going through a transition, and I am sure that people sitting in the press box and the commentary box know it. And despite that, yes, there will be blips, there will be ups and downs. But I thought that, since last year, since the England tour, I think we have played reasonably consistent cricket and test cricket as well. So I think you guys can go by the ranking, but we don’t. Because we know that wherever we are heading, we are heading in the right direction,” he added.
Chatter between Gambhir and Agarkar
On the sidelines of both the Tests, Gambhir has often been seen in a conversation with the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar. However, the head coach refrained from giving a full rundown on what the chatter has been about.
“I wish I could talk. I could tell you about the conversations that we have, the chairman and I, the selectors have. It’s only about how we want to move forward with Indian cricket, what is important, and what the right decisions are for its betterment. And all those things. What other conversations can a head coach and a chairman selector have with each other? So, probably it’s only around Indian cricket, how we see Indian cricket moving forward,” said Gambhir.
After winning the Galle Test against Sri Lanka, India gained a 1-0 lead in the two-match series and the two teams will now square off in the second Test, beginning Sunday, August 23 in Colombo.
