2nd Test: My job is to win trophies, not views and likes, says India head coach Gambhir
Colombo, Aug 22 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) India head coach Gautam Gambhir dismissed concerns over team rankings and heightened media scrutiny, adding that his sole priority is winning trophies rather than acing the popularity contest as his side prepare for the second Test against Sri Lanka, starting at the SSC Ground on Sunday.
“My job is to win trophies, not views and likes. That’s all I believe in and that is the difference between me and everyone,” Gambhir told reporters in a pre-match press conference.
He also rejected that India has been struggling in Tests due to the ongoing transition period, which has led to them being ranked fourth in the format. “Not at all. We are not struggling that much. Rankings do not matter. I think we are going through a transition and I am sure that people sitting in the press box and in the commentary box know that we are going through a transition.
“Despite of that, yes, there will be blips, ups and downs. But I thought that since the last one year after the England tour, I think we have played reasonably consistent cricket and Test cricket as well. So I think you guys can go by the ranking, but we don’t because we know that wherever we are heading, we are heading in the right direction.”
Gambhir also reflected on discussions around player workload management and his alignment with the selection committee head Ajit Agarkar, who’s with the team in Colombo, to ensure core players remain available for important assignments.
“We have heard discussion about everything. It’s not with BCCI, but overall that we want our best players to be playing as much cricket as possible and it’s good for Indian cricket as well because if there is continuity and if we can put our best players on the path as regularly as we can, it is only going to help us get the results as well.
“I wish I could talk and tell you about the conversations only that we – me and the chairman of selectors have. It’s only about how we want to move forward with Indian cricket and what is important and what are the right decisions to make for the betterment of Indian cricket and all those things.
“What other conversations can a head coach and a chairman selector have between each other? So probably it’s only around Indian cricket, how we see Indian cricket moving forward.”
Gambhir also advocated for longer bilateral Test series and expressed a clear preference for three-match Test series over short two-match encounters. “See, ideally I would want a three Test match series. I’ve always believed that there should always be a possibility for a team losing the first Test match to come back and win a series.
“It’s because sometimes what happens is in a two Test match series, if you lose the first test match, there is no chance for the other team to come back and win the series. The maximum you can do is probably draw the series. But again, short turnaround, that’s fine. Other teams are doing that as well. We are professional cricketers. We know how to manage our bodies. We know how to recover quickly as well.
“That’s why there are days when we give players optional practices, seamers off days as well, because as we all know that in these conditions, for seamers it can get extremely tough as well. So we try and manage it and I’m fine with that. But as I said that ideally I would want that there should always be a three Test match series rather than a two Test match series.
“I like it because the team should always have the opportunity to win the series. I know World Test Championship is important, but at the same time winning the series is equally important as well. Teams can come from behind and still end up winning the series. I still remember that series between India and Australia where India was one down and they still managed to come back and win that series 2-1. Normally if you have those three Test match series, it’s always more exciting,” he elaborated.
Urging his team to stay grounded during long World Test Championship (WTC) cycles, Gambhir signed off by stressing on taking the game session by session. “We should only control what we can control. I think there is no point thinking of what other teams are doing. They can control what they can control. We can control what we can control. The only thing we are looking forward to is the Test match which is going to start tomorrow and try and control the controllables.
“Look, we don’t talk about it. As I just mentioned, try and stay in the present. The entire focus is about looking forward to the next five days and more importantly looking every session and every hour as well. You don’t control what’s going to happen over a period of next five days. You can only control what you can control in that first session and that one particular hour and that is how we want to see these things as well.
“It’s not about where we’re going to be at the end of the World Test Championship cycle. It’s about if we can continue to try and win Test matches, everything else will take care of itself. So rather than thinking too much ahead, let’s try and stay in the present and that is what the beauty of sport is. The more you stay in the present, the more you have the opportunity to get the results in your favour.”
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