India’s three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting on Friday, will also be the first time of the side playing under new head coach Gautam Gambhir. Skipper Rohit Sharma said Gambhir, who has taken over from Rahul Dravid, has a very clear mind in what he aims to do with the team.
.“Look, Gautam Gambhir has played a lot of cricket firstly and then he has been involved with a franchise team as well before sitting at the top. So yes, like I said, it’s obviously going to be different from the previous coaching staff. Every human and individual is different. Before when Rahul Dravid joined the team, we had Ravi Shastri.”
“So every individual works differently. I know Gautam Gambhir for a long time now. We played a little bit of cricket together. We have had a lot of chats together as well in the past. Now that he is here, he has got a very clear mind as to what he wants to do with the team, which is very good.”
“We don’t want to plan too far ahead. We are here to play three games. So the goal and idea is to take something back from these three games and try and learn a lot about what we want to achieve in ODI cricket. So yes, it’s a very exciting time,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference.
Asked on what his chats with Gambhir have yielded so far, Rohit said, “See, what we were talking about was basically about cricket. Like how to run the team, what are the needs, where are the shortcomings, where have we done well. Basically, it was just about catching up, because I didn’t get a chance to meet him.”
“I came here and met him. So we were discussing a little bit about how to play with the team, what to do, what tournaments are coming up next, and what we have to do here, how to play against a particular team. Basically, we were talking about all this.”
Rohit also called for people to not be intrigued about whether Gambhir laughs or not during a match. “See Gautam Bhai has a lot of fun in the dressing room. He laughs a lot. Now, his personal is his personal. I don’t think we should try and get into this personal space whether he will laugh or not, or whether he will do this or not. Everyone has their own way. You laugh a lot, maybe people don’t like it. So it’s up to everyone what they like and what they don’t like.”
The ODIs against Sri Lanka also mark the start of India’s preparation for 2025 Champions Trophy, and asked about the improvements the side needs to make in their 50-over play, Rohit remarked one can witness it during the game on Friday.
“It’s not a practice ground, it’s still an international game. We will keep in our mind what we want to achieve as a team. But this is by no means preparation or practice or anything like that. We want to come here and play good cricket and get something out of the series. It is as simple as that. We don’t want to think about, let’s try this, let’s try that.”
Of course, we want to try everything possible. But sometimes you have to understand when you are representing the nation, the quality of the cricket that we want to play should remain the way it is and how we have played our cricket in the last few years. So I think that is more important, more than thinking about it’s a preparation (for Champions Trophy), so let’s go out and chill in Colombo and things like that.
“But in terms of what we want to do, it is not just one particular area that we are looking to improve. It is the overall game, because in sports you cannot just sit happy doing something. You have to keep moving forward. You want to keep going up and up and challenge yourself.”
“As for us also here now, we want to challenge ourselves and see what we can do differently as a team. There is always something new to learn when you play a series, when you play a game. So that’s what I feel. Whatever things we have done in the past, it was good for that particular time.”
Rohit signed off by saying one has to give players the freedom to do things without thinking the outcome. “Time keeps moving forward. We have to also keep moving forward. So we will see. We want to try and do different things, new things and differently and see how it plans out for us. While doing that, the most important part is to allow the players to do that.”
“If they have the freedom, then they will be able to do different things at different times. So it is our job to make sure that we create that environment for the players. It is not about creating. We have already created that environment for the players to come here and just play freely. Not think too much about the result, or your own performances.”
“If you play the way the team is expecting you to play, we are more than happy. Because at the end of the day, you want to do the job for the team and what the team management is asking of you. So everyone plays that part, as the team falls in a better place.”