In the thick of India’s challenging five-Test tour of England, head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up about the value of first-class cricket and the emotional weight of representing India in the longest format. The former opener, who took over the national role following his successful stint in the IPL, sat down for a candid chat with Cheteshwar Pujara during the third Test at Lord’s.
Pressure on Gambhir
Gambhir, who guided India to the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 title earlier this year, has had a tougher ride in Test cricket. Under his tenure, India have faced a historic 0-3 home series defeat to New Zealand and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3 in Australia, missing out on a third successive World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Yet, the 2011 World Cup winner remains deeply invested in the red-ball reset and believes that it is the first time that the Indian team is in transition across all three departments. The ongoing India-England series is of massive importance for Gambhir, who saw India win just one out of their last eight Tests before the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
“First-Class cricket is the most important format”
“Probably this is the first time that the transition is happening in all three departments,” Gambhir said while speaking to Pujara at Sony Sports Network. “I think for me, first-class cricket is the most important format, back home.”
After the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the format, India’s new-look Test team has some inexperience. And it is bound to happen. The transition phase is on and Gambhir has an arduous task to offer a smooth transition, while also demanding results from his group.
The likes of Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan have been added among batters, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been looked at as proper all-rounders. Meanwhile, a new fast-bowling group has been under formation that includes Bumrah, Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, and Arshdeep Singh.
“It is about fighting every day. And it is about representing the tri-colour every day. Gautam Gambhir is not important. Indian cricket is important. Everyone has the right to have an opinion about the culture of that dressing room. And every opinion for me will matter,” he added.
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