Gautam Gambhir- India post-match press conference, 4 March '25
[Reporter:]
As a coach, how does this run to the final feel after the lows of the defeats at home to New Zealand and then away to Australia, in back-to-back Test series, and now this run to the final, where the team has played flawlessly in all the departments?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
You used a very good word that we played ‘flawlessly’. I think yes we did but we still have one more game to go. We know that we are a good one-day side and the most important thing is the way we've actually played throughout this competition. The hunger, the commitment, and the eagerness to try and do something special for the country is always there in the dressing room.
[Reporter:]
Can you just explain what the dressing room feels like when Virat's out in the middle in a run chase?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
It feels exactly the same - whoever is there in the middle.
[Reporter:]
It's no different, I mean he's obviously got such a good record.
[Gautam Gambhir:]
For me, I think everyone is important. It feels exactly the same, whether it's Virat in the middle or it's anyone else in the middle. Ultimately, it's about playing for the country. And it's about when you're representing your country, every individual is important.
[Reporter:]
Was there at any point you thought that it was getting too close for comfort?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
No, I don't think so. I think it was very, very professional and the reason why I say that is because we had wickets in hand and that was the plan because we know that obviously wickets here in the second half can actually get a little slower. In the last game we batted first, and we thought that it was very important to have wickets in hand at the 40-over mark. And we actually planned the chase really, really well. Even if you see after 40 overs, we were only four down. We had two set batters in. So, we knew that the kind of quality we have in the kind of depth we had we were always under control.
[Reporter:]
In successive games in chases against Pakistan and Australia - Kohli has played two outstanding innings. Could you just talk about what he has been doing on these sort of pitches because making runs hasn't been very easy and very fluent as well, but he has gone about doing it in his own way just by picking his gaps. Can you just talk about that?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
He is a phenomenal one-day cricketer. He knows how to plan his runs, he knows how to plan whether he is batting first or chasing and he knows that he adapts to the conditions really quickly and that is why experience and high-quality players are very important and that is the reason why he has got that kind of record in one day cricket and I hope he continues to do that in the future as well.
[Reporter:]
Can you tell us how did you arrive at the decision of promoting Axar to number five and how do you evaluate his performance so far?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
We have answered it before that we don't care what people say. I think he's a quality player, and it is important. This is how cricket is meant to be played, and this is how we will play the sport. This is how we will continue playing the sport. We know the quality and ability Axar has, and we're going to keep giving him that opportunity at number five so that he can keep performing, and more importantly, keep expressing and keep showing his talent to the world. And he's made a reasonable amount of contributions since he started batting at number five. And you guys, people can keep talking about it, about making Axar bat at number five. But yes, that's where it is very important and it is not about individuals, it's about what we want as a team and we'll continue to do that
[Reporter:]
Even with the greatest players little bits can sneak into their game – Virat Kohli has been out to leg spin a little bit just in the very recent past and today to a leg spinner. Was that a conversation that has been there in the dressing room at all? How do you see his playing leg spin today?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
When you play 300 games, you will end up getting out to some of the spinners. So that's okay. I think he's got a hundred in this competition, he's got a ninety in this competition and eventually when you've got runs in this competition, you will eventually get out to some kind of a bowler. So rather than dissecting and bisecting that he's got out to leg spin and then when you've played 300 ODIs you will eventually get out to certain kind of bowlers and that's okay
[Reporter:]
Before coming in there was a lot of publicity about Virat taking part in the Ranji Trophy a lot of excitement as well and when we look at his performances here how important is it do you think that players of his and Rohit's international experience when out of form go back and partake in domestic cricket?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
Different format and obviously we haven't played too much of one day cricket since the last 50 over World Cup. So, you can't judge players thinking that obviously they haven't got runs in red ball cricket. It doesn't mean that they can't get runs in 50 over format. They've been exceptional players in this format. They've done it for so many years. So, we had no doubt that they're going to deliver come the big tournaments. And they've exactly done that in this competition. So, there was no doubt about their ability, about their experience and about the kind of experience they bring to the table and the kind of calibre and the kind of hunger they bring to the dressing room. So, there was no doubt about it that what they could do and what they did in this competition.
[Reporter:]
Coach, you had spoken in the past about KL Rahul being your first preference in this format. He was pushed down the order to six with Axar being accommodated at five being a left-hander. As a coach, what were your conversations with someone like a KL who has been batting in the top order in the recent past, then in the middle order at five. So, when he comes in at six as a coach, what do you say? Like how do you go about talking cricket with him because the role kind of changes when he moves down to six.
[Gautam Gambhir:]
You know in a sport like cricket and in a team sport, numbers don't matter, batting positions don't matter, it's the impact that matters. You should only be thinking of picking yourself in the playing 11 and rest whatever is needed of you to do it for the team you should be happily doing it and KL has done that and KL has done that really happily and he's done that really well at number six as well. People keep talking about it, I don't know for how long they've been talking about it, why we've pushed KL at number six. Just we feel that he gives us more depth, and that is how we want to play the game. And the conversations which I've had with him or the conversations which I've had with everyone is exactly the same that in a team sport, especially in cricket and in this format, we are not going to talk about batting positions. We're going to talk about how can we create that impact and what is needed of the team. We'll continue doing that.
[Reporter:]
From team selection, loading the squad with spinners to batting order and playing KL ahead of Rishabh, some criticisms were made, now do you feel vindicated?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
KL averages 50 in one day cricket, that's the answer.
[Reporter:]
And the overall criticism, do you feel vindicated now?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
Overall criticism of what?
[Reporter:]
About team selection, squad selection and batting order, everything. Now as the team has reached the final, do you feel vindicated?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
I don't care about it. I don't even care about it honestly. My job is to be honest to 140 crore Indians and to my players in the dressing room. I don't care what people say about it, how they talk about it, whether they've got agendas, whether they've not got agendas, I don't even care about it. If I'm honest to my job, that is all that matters and I can sleep in peace. And when you talk about the spinning combination we've got three all-rounders in those five spinners. I don't know why people keep forgetting about it and those three all-rounders are quality all-rounders. Actually, in the entire squad we've only picked two front line spinners and that is okay in a 15-member squad if you pick two front line spinners that's not too much to be asking for.
[Reporter:]
As a coach, scoring the most important box has really actually [inaudible] Have all other
boxes been ticked?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
See, in international sport, you want to keep improving. You don't say that you've ticked all the boxes. There's always room to improve. There's always something to improve, be it in batting, fielding, or bowling. And we still haven't played a perfect game. We still have one more game to go. Hopefully we can play a perfect game. And that is the kind of person I am. I will never be satisfied with the performances. We want to keep improving, we want to stay humble, we want to be ruthless on the cricket field but absolutely humble off the field as well. That's the kind of team environment and that's the kind of culture we want to create in that dressing room and be absolutely honest. So hopefully we can play one more game and play our best game.
[Reporter:]
We keep talking about Mohammad Shami’s comeback, from the home series against England. Today he virtually created a chance at the first ball of the match, actually, he almost missed it. Can you share your thoughts on how he does things during training, the conversations with him? Is he a person who needs to be talked to often?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
He's brilliant. He's a world-class performer. He's phenomenal. And the hunger he brings on the table, the way he trains, the way he practices, the amount of bowling he does in practice sessions. He prepares himself really well. And that's why you see all those results. We keep talking about a lot of other people, but I think that he's a phenomenal, phenomenal bowler, be it in red ball cricket or in 50-over format as well. And he's shown that, making a comeback after one and a half years, and the way he's performed in this competition. And these are not easy conditions as a fast bowler to be bowling these wickets. But still, the way he's bowled, and he's bowled those tough overs as well. So, I have no doubt that he's going to continue doing the same thing for a long time for Indian cricket.
[Reporter:]
Please tell us that when you came to Dubai to play, you had planned to play spinners only. You knew the conditions. Tell me about Rohit, the form he's in, How much cricket do you think he’ll still play?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
First of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team. We have not played here. I don't remember which tournament we played in this stadium last. And in fact, we didn't plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two front-line spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two front-line spinners because it was a competition on the subcontinent. So, it was nothing like we wanted to set up a spinners' trap. If you look at it, we only played one front line spinner in the first three matches. We only played two front line spinners in this match or the previous match. So, it was nothing like that. And there's a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven't practiced here even for a day. We're practicing at the ICC Academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different. If you look at the wickets there and here, the difference is between the ground and the sky. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They've got to grow up. So, I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage or we had planned something like that.
[Gautam Gambhir:]
Look, the final of the Champions Trophy is now coming up. What can I say before that? If your captain bats with such a tempo, it just gives a very good signal to the dressing room that we want to be absolutely fearless and courageous. You evaluate from the runs; we evaluate from the impact. That's the difference. You evaluate from the stats; we evaluate from the impact. As journalists, as experts, you only look at numbers, averages. But as a coach, as a team, we don't look at numbers or averages. If the captain puts up his hand first, then there is nothing better than that for the dressing room.
[Reporter:]
Would it be right to say that you want the players to sort of play out of their comfort zone? And if that is the case, how are the players responding to that you think?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
I think cricket is all about being out of your comfort zone. In fact, forget about cricket, any international sport is about being out of your comfort zone and that is how you grow. That is how you want to grow as well. If everyone is in their comfort zone, then there is stagnation. So, I believe, and you've seen the results, I know you guys will keep going back to 3-0 or 3-1 in Australia, but everyone in the dressing room is staying out of the comfort zone be it the coaching staff be it the players and hopefully we continue to do what is important for Indian cricket and we can take Indian cricket forward.
[Reporter:]
You have been a player, now you are a coach. Where do you want to see Team India as a coach? What's your target and what is the aim or what is the goal that you want to see Team India to be?
[Gautam Gambhir:]
Look I'm someone who tries to stay as much as I can in the present and at the moment all I can say is that the entire focus is going to be on the game which is on the 9th. And then obviously there's a long-term vision, there's a long-term plan as well but at the moment it's only 9th but after 9th we can sit down and plan but more importantly we want to play a brand of cricket where we can ask players to go out there and be absolutely brave, courageous, and if ever in doubt, take a very, very positive route. And I've always said it. Be it a T20 format, be it a 50-over format, we want to be a team which is absolutely fearless and where people can go out there and be brave. And that is how we want the team to go out there and in future play that kind of a cricket as well, as simple as it can get.
, completely unknown Dubai sluggish pitch , varun and kuldeep combo that final match should be ours to loose.
