Gautam Gambhir after Replacing Rahul Dravid as Head Coach: Clears out Selection Criteria

India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir said that his approach to picking players will not be based on a particular format as he feels players who are “good enough” should play all three formats. Earlier this week, a new era in Indian cricket began as Gambhir succeeded Rahul Dravid as the new head coach. Other than Dravid’s departure, the trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirements from the T20I format. A new schedule fill with action lies ahead of Gambhir and the Indian team.

There were speculations about the players who could play under the new regime. But Gambhir has made his selection process clear by stating his strong belief in players across all three formats.

“I’m a very strong believer in one thing, that if you’re good, you should be playing all the three formats. I’ve never been a big believer in injury management, you get injured, you go get recovered. As simple as it gets. When you’re playing international cricket and you’re good enough, you ask any of the top players, if they want to play all the three formats. They don’t want to stay, and they don’t want to be labelled as red-ball bowlers or white-ball bowlers. Injuries are part of sportsman’s life,” Gambhir said.

“If you’re playing all the three formats, you get injured, you go back, get recovered, but you should be playing all the three formats. I am not a big believer in identifying people that, we’re going to keep him for test matches or other formats. We’re going to manage his injury and workload and stuff. Professional cricketers, you’ve got a very small span when you’re playing for your country, and you want to play as much as you can. And when you’re in very good form, go ahead and play all the three formats,” he added.

During his playing days, Gambhir was known for his aggressive play style. He carried his aggression when he stepped in as management as well. This aggression was on display when he was a mentor in Indian Premier League(IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders.

When talking about his approach towards the game, Gambhir only had one message, play with honesty.

“There’s only one message, that tries and plays with honesty. Try and be as honest as you can with your profession. Results will follow. When I picked up the bat, I never thought of the results. I never thought that I was going to score these many runs. I’ve always believed that I have to be as honest as I can to my profession. Live on certain principles, live on certain values. Try and do the right things. Try and do things even if you think the whole world is against you. But your heart believes that you’re doing the right thing for the best interest of the team,” Gambhir said.

Gambhir’s first assignment as head coach for Indian team will begin with the Men In Blue’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, which will begin on July 26.

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