Gautam Gambhir stood tall behind Indian veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli despite their failures in the recent home series against New Zealand.
The Indian head coach was asked about concerns over Rohit and Kohli’s form after their poor performance against New Zealand in the press conference ahead of the Australia-India Test series and responded with fire.
Earlier, Ricky Ponting, in ICC Review, had commented on Kohli’s recent Test statistics, stating that it was a “concern”.
“The other day I saw a statistic about Virat, it said he only got two (three) hundreds of tests in the last five years. That didn’t seem right to me, but if it’s right, then it’s a concern,” Ponting said.
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What happened at Gautam Gambhir’s press conference
In the press conference, Gambhir addressed key issues regarding India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against Australia.
Here are the talking points briefly:
There is no confirmation as of now on Rohit Sharma’s availability. KL Rahul will be the stand-in opener for the tour and his experience will be considered in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Nitish Reddy is immensely talented and is ready to play the role of Shardul Thakur if required. KL Rahul is a versatile and experienced player, he can open, bat at number 3 or 6 and even keep wickets if required. India will continue to support him. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s form is not a cause for concern. Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team when Rohit Sharma is absent due to personal reasons. He admits to being completely outplayed by New Zealand in the home series.
Gambhir attacks Ponting
Gambhir was furious when asked about Kohli and Rohit’s form with the journalist citing Ponting’s “concern” for top-order Indian batsmen.
“What does Ponting have to do with Australian cricket? You should watch Australian cricket,” Gambhir lashed out.
Gambhir also admitted that the series would be tough and agreed that the criticism following New Zealand’s whitewashing was fair, stating that his team was completely outclassed.
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“Learning is accepting that we were surpassed. I’m not here to defend myself. We were outclassed in all three departments. We accept criticism with both hands.”
That said, he wasn’t too worried about the courts in Australia and stated that they were free to lay out any surface they wanted.
“We do not control the land they give. We have all the bases covered. Whatever they give, jumping tracks, turning tracks and green windows. We still have to go out and realize our potential. If we do that, we can beat anyone on any wicket.”
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