India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector of the team Ajit Agarkar held their first press conference after Gambhir took charge with the team. The press conference addressed a lot of key changes that happened in India’s recent team selection against Sri Lanka. We will discuss some of the key points from the press conference.
Key Takeaways From Gambhir-Agarkar Press Conference
India T20I Captaincy
India’s declaration of the new T20I captain after Rohit Sharma retires from the shortest format has been one of the hot topics to discuss at the dinner table in recent days. So when the chief selector and the head coach called for a press conference, this was one of the prominent subjects that they were asked to.
Answering why Suryakumar Yadav was picked over Hardik Pandya, whose name was the front runner for the captaincy position before the squad had announced, Agarkar said that he got positive feedbacks about the SKY from the dressing room. The reason why Hardik was snubbed is his fitness concerns says the selector
“Suryakumar Yadav was made the captain because he is one of the most deserving candidates. We have been getting the feedback from the dressing room. He has got a great cricket brain, he is one of the best T20 batters in the world, and the one who is likely to play all the games. Hardik is a very important player. He has the skillsets that are very difficult to find. Fitness has been a challenge. That was the thought behind it. We wanted the one who is available all the time. Surya has got the necessary qualities that you need to succeed as a captain.”
Agarkar also dropped a big one about the SKY. According to him, Suryakumar Yadav will only be concentrating on T20Is and will not be taking part in ODIs from now
“He (Suryakumar Yadav) is permanently dropped from ODIs and we didn’t even discuss him as Shreyas & KL are back and they had terrific ODI WC, Pant is also back. So, yeah Sky is a T2OI player and we have so much quality in ODIs.”
Nurturing of Shubhman Gill
Shubhman Gill has been in terrible form this year across all the formats. He was dropped from the T20 World Cup but returned as a captain to lead India in Zimbabwe T20Is. His batting form in the series was yet flawed. But BCCI included the player in both the ODI and T20I squad despite there being more worthy players outside. Agarkar defends this act in the press conference.
“Shubman Gill is the guy we feel is a three-format player.Has shown a lot more qualities over the last year, that’s what we hear from the dressing room. He has shown some decent leadership qualities. We want to try and give him the experience.”
On Jadeja’s Future
Ravindra Jadeja was dropped from the ODI squad against Sri Lanka. Addressing this, Agarkar said that Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja both getting picked at the same time doesn’t make much sense. But the selector also admitted that it is not the end of Jadeja hinting at his participation in the upcoming Test season.
“There was no point in picking both Axar and Jadeja. One would have benched anyways. Jadeja is not dropped. A long Test season is coming”.
About the Relationship With Virat Kohli
Asking about his past flawed relationship with Virat Kohli in the IPL, Gambhir swept away all the rumors and said that it’s only good for TRP. Gambhir also said that he has a great relationship with the star. He also admitted that he had already communicated with Virat after taking over as the head coach.
“After my appointment, I and Virat Kohli had exchanged messages. I had a very good relationship with him. He’s a world-class athlete, a world-class cricketer. We both will work hard to win matches for our team”.
“Good for TRP. But My relationship with Virat Kohli is not public. It’s between 2 mature individuals. As I have said before everyone has got the right to fight for their own team. Now we are representing India..”
Virat and Rohit’s Future
Gambhir was optimistic when he asked about the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He said the stars can play in the 2027 World Cup if they get their fitness.
“They (Virat & Rohit) have a lot of cricket left in them. There’s a big tour of Australia and Champions Trophy coming up, they will be motivated enough. And if they can keep their fitness even the 2027 World Cup.”
Ruturaj & Abhishek’s Ousting
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma have been tremendous from this year. The exclusion of Ruturaj from ODI’s and Abhishek Sharma from T20Is raised a few eyebrows.
Agarker answered this concern in a few words:
“Any player who is dropped will feel hard done by. Look at Rinku, he performed really well ahead of the T20 World Cup, but couldn’t make the cut. We can only pick 15”.
Mohammad Shami to Return Against Bangladesh
Ace bowler Mohammad Shami has been out of cricket for a long time since his injury. He couldn’t be a part of the last IPL as well as the T20 World Cup. the selector and the coach revealed that Shami will return in the series against Bangladesh which will be happening in September and October.
Gambhir On Abhishek Nayar And Ryan Ten Doeschate As Support Staff
After taking charge of the team, Gambhir asked BCCI to appoint Abhishek Nayar and Ryan Ten Doeschate as his support staff. Both have worked with him in Kolkata Knight Riders which raised the trophy of IPL 2024.
” I have worked closely with Abhishek and Ryan in the last two months at IPL with KKR. Both are absolute professionals and hopefully have a successful stint with the Indian team as coaches”.
It was surprising to see the lack of good discussion on the exclusion of Sanju Samson from the ODI. Samson who has a better average than Rishabh Pant, and even better than MS Dhoni is getting excluded from the team for a while. Samson had scored a match-winning century in South Africa in his last outing for the country
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