Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir played fearlessly in his impressive career and he was known to take the bull by its horns. As a coach, Gambhir is no different and said there is no place for fear in his dictionary after India registered a 3-2 series win against New Zealand.
Managing the Indian team is no easy task and Gambhir is ready take the bullet for all the results. India was able to come up with a collective effort in the first three games against the Blackcaps but veered off the track in the last two matches
Gambhir said in the post-match press conference, “In my dictionary, there is no place for fear, and that word does not exist in my life. I think we are professionals, and I’ve always believed that there are no excuses. Yes, I have [felt mentally drained], to be honest, but I am strong enough to manage that. I’m strong enough to take it… that I can take the pressure, I can take the bullet.”
Gambhir hailed the players for the series win as they had very little time to prepare for the series.
“Look, first of all, obviously it’s an incredible effort because what…the boys got only one day to prepare. They arrived on the 20th; we practiced on the 21st. Different conditions, different weather conditions, different dimensions, playing against a quality side like New Zealand in their own backyard with the amount of experience they had in T20 cricket, plus most of the boys touring New Zealand for the first time.”
The former Indian batter praised the players for handling the situations with guile and playing ruthlessly in the first three games.
He concluded, “Look, biggest achievement I’ve already said that I think these boys, apart from winning, I think how they’ve handled the conditions and how ruthless they were in the first three games, especially when you’re chasing 220, we were down and out, three young boys got us across the line. And then chasing 199 in what, 14 overs? And then winning the first game after one practice session. So that is—that is what is called ruthlessness.”
Gambhir’s next assignment is the ODI series against New Zealand.
