Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir stood tall and held his ground with his fierce approach while defending senior players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at a press conference in Mumbai ahead of the Border Gavaskar Test series.
Not only did he defend the senior cricketers in the team whose form had been in question after the three-Test series against New Zealand, but Gambhir also spoke for himself that he is enjoying his run as the India head coach and isn’t feeling any heat.
Answering a question on legendary Australian skipper Ricky Point’s remarks on Kohli and Sharma, Gambhir had said, “What does Ponting to has to do with Indian cricket? I think he should think about Australian cricket and more importantly have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat and Rohit. I think they are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in future as well.”
“I think for me, the most important thing is that they still work really hard and they still passionate, they still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me. And for the entire group of people as well in that dressing in dressing rooms. And I feel there is a lot of hunger and especially after what has happened in the last series,” The Indian head coach added.
On his tenure as Indian coach, Gambhir had said, “I am not feeling the heat, it’s an absolute honour and privilege to coach India.”
What Sanjay Manjrekar says?
Former India great Sanjay Manjrekar is, however, not impressed with Gambhir and has asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) not to send Gambhir for a press conference ever again.
He took to X and wrote, “Just watched Gambhir in the press conference. May be wise for @BCCI to keep him away from such duties, let him work behind the scenes. He does not have the right demeanour nor the words when interacting with them. Rohit & Agarkar, much better guys to front up for the media.”
During the press conference, Gambhir stated that Jasprit Bumrah will lead the Indian team in case Rohit Sharma is not available.