Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir expressed his satisfaction with the side’s no-nonsense approach in the final T20I game against England on Sunday in Mumbai.
Riding on Abhishek Sharma’s sensational knock of 135 off 54 balls (seven fours and 13 sixes), the Men in Blue posted a staggering total of 247 on the board. In response, England were all-out for 97 and lost the game by 150 runs.
After India secured a 4-1 series victory, Gambhir was involved in an interaction with the broadcasters. The 43-year-old stated they remain steadfast on playing an entertaining brand of cricket and not
“That’s the kind of T20 cricket we want to play. We don’t want to fear losing a game of cricket,” Gambhir told the host broadcaster. “We want to play high-risk, high-reward cricket. And these guys have adopted that ideology, that policy really well. And I think the ideology of this T20 team is based on selflessness and fearlessness. And I think in the last six months, these guys have done it day in, day out.”
Further, Gautam Gambhir expressed his belief of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continuing the same mindset in the ODI series against England, which takes place from February 6 to 12.
“We are now getting two quality players (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) back in who’ve got a phenomenal record in one-day cricket. Hopefully they can come in and deliver and probably try and be as aggressive and positive as they can,” Gambhir added.
Gautam Gambhir praises Varun Chakravarthy’s performances in T20I series
The Indian head honcho Gautam Gambhir lauded Varun Chakravarthy’s rise in international cricket after his comeback. After having average outings in 2021, Chakravarthy earned a national recall after emerging as the second-highest wicket-taker in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with 21 wickets for champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Interestingly, Gambhir served as a mentor of KKR as they went on to lift the IPL 2024 title, and saw the transformation of the spinner from the cash-rich league to the Indian team. Chakravarthy emerged as the Player of the Tournament in the T20I series against England with 14 wickets in five games, as the visitors had no answers to his questions.
“I think his transformation from IPL to international T20 cricket has been phenomenal,” Gautam Gambhir said of Varun. “And this series was probably the benchmark as well because England is a high-quality side. They’ve got some really quality cricketers and the kind of surfaces we’ve played on – I think they were fantastic batting wickets and the way he’s bowled those tough overs has been phenomenal.”
