Gautam Gambhir issues official statement after India dressing room chat leaks

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has appealed for patience following the team’s defeat to Australia in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Gambhir spoke about honesty in the dressing room and believes that will take the Indian team forward.

Gautam Gambhir is not worried about the transition phase as he has confidence in the depth of Indian cricket. He asked the younger players to be given enough space to perform to enable them to give their best for the country.

The Indian team is currently going through a transition phase where a no. of retirements will be on the cards in the coming years. Ravichandran Ashwin recently retired from international cricket while the other seniors like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are also not in great form.

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“The transition is not just for us but for the country” – Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir spoke to reporters on the eve of the fifth Test between Australia and India in Sydney. While talking about the future, Gambhir asked for patience in this difficult phase and feels that the media also has a role to play at this stage.

“The kind of talent that is there in Indian cricket, we will always be in good hands. But there will be times when we don’t get the results, we have to be patient,” Gambhir told the press conference.

“Rather than criticizing the young players, we need to give them time to develop as well, and that’s not just the role of the support staff, but also you (the media), probably not criticizing them, but helping them . Well, the transition is not just for us, but for the country and we are in it together,” he added.

A no of the players are playing their first series in Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep are on their first tour of Australia and have also shown promise.

Gautam Gambhir calls for honesty in Indian cricket

Gautam Gambhir is not worried about India’s performance and believes the future is in good hands given the depth of Indian cricket. He has called for improved performance and believes that everyone has a role to play.

“Indian cricket will always be in good hands as long as we have honest people sitting in this room, and honesty is the most important thing for any transition,” declared the former India opener.

“It’s not about removing the senior players and bringing in the youngsters. In short, the only thing that can keep you in the dressing room is performance, and it starts with all of us,” he observed.

Reason for India’s poor performance

According to Gautam Gambhir, one of the main reasons for India’s poor performance is the transition in both the batting and bowling departments. He praised batsmen like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy for their performances in their first tour of Australia.

“I’ve always felt that when transitions happened in the past, there was one department that carried the team forward. But for now, the transition is going to happen in both departments (pitching and batting) and you see that.”, Gambhir explained.

“You can see some younger fast bowlers coming in – there are younger batsmen who are on their first tour of Australia and have done exceptionally well,” he said.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy are India’s top two run-scorers in the series currently. Both have been impressive and have shown promise for the future. Jaiswal has scored 359 runs at an average of 51.28 while Reddy has scored 294 runs at an average of 49.

Two of India’s senior batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have struggled for runs throughout the series, which is a major concern for the team management. Australia currently lead the series 2-1 and the final Test of the series will be played in Sydney on January 3.