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Gautam Gambhir doesn’t want the Indian team to remember history, but create it’s own.
Someone who has never shied away from speaking his mind, Gambhir – in his one year tenure as India’s head coach – has weathered several storms, and lost eight of 14 Tests, while winning four and drawing two.
But the setback haven’t deterred him from sticking to his vision of creating a team that can score 400-plus in a day and bat for two days to earn a draw.
At Old Trafford on Sunday, his side was put to test, and his wards crossed the hurdles by batting for nearly three sessions and saving the fourth Test, which for the longest time tilted towards England.
Throughout the day, coach Gambhir could be seen talking to his players. But by his own admission, not for a moment did he draw reference to his iconic innings against New Zealand in 2009, where his nearly 11-hour vigil helped India force a draw when following on.
The reason?
First, he doesn’t remember any of his knocks. Second, he believes that the current crop “should make their history.”
That has been the Gambhir model from the start, and slowly but steadily, the young side under Shubman Gill is adapting to the environment, which demands the players to be result-oriented.
With this approach comes risk, but Gambhir won’t budge. That has been evident from some bold selection calls in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. That’s the reason behind drafting a rookie Anshul Kamboj into the squad or handing debut to B. Sai Sudharsan, and backing them despite early setbacks.
“We don’t drop anyone, we only pick the best playing XI. That’s the difference. You guys see it as dropping someone, we see it as selecting someone who can do the job for us,” Gambhir said.
With this mindset, the coach now heads to The Oval, hoping to level the series.
