Gautam Gambhir is not one to hold back, and once again, he made that very clear. The Indian cricket team’s head coach strongly dismissed claims that India had any special advantage playing in Dubai after their four-wicket win over Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy semi-final.
Some critics suggested that India’s familiarity with Dubai’s conditions gave them an edge, but Gambhir wasn’t having any of it.
At the post-match press conference, Gautam Gambhir didn’t mince words. He called these accusations baseless and insisted that India would have picked the same team no matter where the match was played.
“Even if this tournament was held in Pakistan, we would have still gone with two spinners,” he said. That’s a strong statement, shutting down any notion that India tailored their selection just for Dubai.
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One of Gambhir’s biggest points? India hadn’t even trained at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. “We have trained at the ICC Cricket Academy, which has entirely different conditions from the main venue,” he revealed.
Gautam Gambhir didn’t stop there. He went a step further, challenging critics to provide proof that India has played under these specific conditions before.
“Tell me, when and where has India played a tournament under these current Dubai conditions? I can’t remember,” he argued.
That’s a fair point. Yes, India has played in Dubai before, but conditions change. Different pitches, different tournaments, different scenarios.
Gautam Gambhir also took a dig at the way players are judged based on numbers rather than their actual impact on a match.
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“As journalists, you look at the numbers and statistics. We analyse the impact a player has on the game,” he said. Scoring a big hundred might look great on paper, but if it doesn’t change the game’s outcome, does it really matter? Gambhir doesn’t think so.
India is now in the final, but Gambhir isn’t letting the team get carried away. “Our players have excelled in every department. Each one of them has taken responsibility and shown the hunger to win. But the job isn’t done yet; there’s still one crucial match to win.”
And as for the criticism on team selection? Gambhir made it crystal clear. “We don’t care about criticism from outsiders. Our focus is solely on the performance of the players and the success of the team.”
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