Under fire after a 3-0 series whitewash at home against New Zealand, the Indian cricket team will look to turn things around and retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for a third consecutive time during their upcoming tour of Australia for a challenging five-Test tour, starting with the first Test at Perth from November 22.
The series also holds significance as a World Test Championships final berth is at stake after Rohit Sharma’s men slipped to second spot following the drubbing against the BlackCaps. For a team that has been near-invincible at home, this loss was significant—it marked their first Test series defeat on home soil since 2012 and the first 3-0 whitewash at home this century, as the Indians struggled to cope with New Zealand’s spin attack.
Despite the heavy backlash following the series loss, head coach Gautam Gambhir showed no signs of concern, shrugging off all the uproar at the pre-departure presser on Monday.
“What difference does it make, the social media talk? What difference does it make in my life or for that matter, in anyone else’s life?” Gambhir said.
“When I took up this job, I knew it was going to be a highly difficult job and highly prestigious job. Honestly, I don’t feel the heat because there are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have achieved some great things for the country and will continue to do so.
“It’s an absolute honour to be coaching them and coaching India,” he added.
Gambhir was candid enough to acknowledge that New Zealand were the superior side and outplayed the hosts in all departments in the recent series, but the former India opener is eager to put behind the setback while emphasising on the lessons learnt, and shift the team’s focus to the upcoming challenge against Australia.
“The learning is that we accept that we were outplayed. I am not going to sit here and defend. I think we were outplayed in all three departments, they were more professional and we accept that,” he said.
“The criticism that we are receiving, we take it with both hands and we keep moving forward, we keep getting better every day. My relationship with Rohit (Sharma) has been incredible. Before the New Zealand series, we had an incredible Test in Kanpur (against Bangladesh).”
“I know we haven’t played our best cricket but that doesn’t change anything. Australia is a new series, Australia is a new opponent and we go out there thinking we can definitely win the series,” the two-time World Cup winner said.
No concerns about Virat & Rohit
Among those heavily criticised for the whitewash were senior players, notably captain Rohit and experienced batter Virat Kohli, who managed only 91 and 93 runs respectively across the three matches against the Black Caps.
Gambhir, however, stood firmly behind the senior duo, expressing confidence in their ability to bounce back and deliver strong performances going forward.
“We have no concerns about Virat and Rohit. I think they’re incredibly tough men, they’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well.
“I think the most important thing for me is they still work very hard, they’re still passionate and they still want to achieve a lot more. The hunger in the dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people, especially what has happened in the last series,” he said.
Stressing on the importance of getting used to the conditions in Australia, Gambhir said that the experience of the seniors in the side will be of great help as they look forward to the training in the next 10 days to prepare for the first ball on November 22.
“The first and foremost challenge is obviously the conditions. In these ten days, if we can get good, proper preparation before the start of the series, I think we are going to be in really good shape. And we’ve got a lot of experienced players who’ve been to Australia a lot many times. Their experience will come in handy for the young players as well. These 10 days are going to be very crucial but come 22nd morning, I think we should be absolutely ready to fire from ball one,” he said.