Our Bureau
New Delhi
There has been a lot of chatter around Gautam Gambhir ever since he has taken up the position of the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. Gambhir was recently in an interview with Cheteswar Pujara talking about several things happening around the Indian team including the ongoing transition and the importance of First-class cricket.
Ahead of the third match of the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy, Gambhir sat down for an interview with Pujara. He addressed the transition phase that the Indian phase is going through after the retirement of their stalwarts in multiple formats of the game. He stated that it was probably the first time that Indian cricket is transitioning in all three formats in a single time frame.
Gambhir has always been outspoken about putting the country and the team before him. He stated the same to Pujara saying that he respects every opinion that comes his way because at the end of the day he is looking to take Indian cricket to the next level.
“It is about fighting every day. And it is about representing the tri-colour every day. Gautam Gambhir is not important. Indian cricket is important. Everyone has the right to have an opinion about the culture of that dressing room. And every opinion for me will matter,” he added.
Another move by the Head Coach that was really talked about was the importance he gave to First-class cricket. When India lost the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, Gambhir made it clear that every player, no matter their stature, needs to play first-class cricket. He had the same sentiments now as well and said, “I think for me, first-class cricket is the most important format, back home.”
Coming back to the ongoing series, India and England are currently levelled with both teams winning a match each. The teams are now locking horns in the third match at the infamous Lord’s cricket ground. English Captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first with just one change to his squad as Jofra Archer makes his return to the red-ball format after around 4 years.
