Gautam Gambhir does not believe in sugarcoating. Throughout his career - first as a cricketer and now as a coach - he has preferred speaking his mind. Things are no different now.
Following India’s first home Test series defeat after 12 years, in Pune last week, India captain Rohit Sharma had stated that it’s important to have conversations with the youngsters, who are in their early days in international cricket and ensure that they are not affected by the disappointing outing or the backlash.
However, on the eve of the final Test against New Zealand, head coach Gambhir had a different take on the issue. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Obviously, it’s hurting, and it’s good that it’s hurting because it should hurt,” Gambhir said.
“Because every time you lose a game - be it at home or be it away from home - it should hurt, and that hurt will make us better. Sometimes people say that it should not hurt. But it should hurt when you’re playing for your country. What’s wrong in being in that position?” Gambhir wondered.
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“Especially for the youngsters, it’s hurting them. I’m sure they’re going to push themselves to keep getting better. Because that is exactly what we want them to be. Pushing themselves every day to be a better cricketer…”
India’s flamboyant approach during the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur, where it won despite rain delays for three days, was seen as India’s answer to the famed ‘Bazball.’ However, things changed a couple weeks back when the team was bundled out for 46 in the first innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru and eventually went on to suffer a defeat.
Last week, things worsened as another batting debacle saw the team end its winning streak of 18 home Test series with a 113-run defeat against the Black Caps. While Washington Sundar made a memorable comeback with the ball, none of the batters - barring Yashasvi Jaiswal - could step up.
Gambhir made it clear that the disappointments and the bruises of a series defeat will only bring the best out of the players, going forward. “If we have results like what we had in Kanpur, then we might as well have results like this, and take that out and keep moving forward,” the head coach said.
While there were no injury concerns ahead of the final Test, the team management will decide the final eleven on the morning of the game, keeping an eye on the Wankhede Stadium pitch, which according to Gambhir, looks ‘quite decent’.
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