Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir was elated with the team’s all-round impact in the third and final T20I against Afghanistan as they sealed the three-game series 3-0 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, September 17.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir stated that it was Abhishek Sharma’s impact that mattered more than the runs he scored. Notably, Sharma scored a 30-ball century in the third T20I as India posted a whopping total of 221/7 in 20 overs.
“It’s not about the hundred that he (Abhishek) scored today. I can sit here and keep talking about his hundred, but it’s just the impact. The only thing that we talk about in that dressing room is how much impact can we create with the bat and how much impact can we create with the ball,’ Gambhir said.
“T20 cricket is not about runs or wickets, it’s about how much impact you can create. And for both Sanju [Samson] and Abhishek, I think you can easily sit here and say one got a 50 and the other one got a 100. But for me, I think the biggest positive was when we got 100 in the powerplay. We have never done that in my coaching tenure,” he added.
Further, Gambhir has opened up on the injury concerns surrounding the Indian team across formats. While Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravaarthy and Hardik Pandya are spending their time at the CoE in Bengaluru, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar have just returned to the set-up.
“See, if I give a dead honest answer, then yes. Because, especially in Test cricket or One-Day cricket, you want your best players to play as much as they can, because the next World Cup is a 50-over World Cup. And more importantly, it’s not fair on a young captain as well if he doesn’t get the best team playing consistently and regularly, and not being on the park consistently,” he concluded.
