‘Rankings don’t matter; my job is to win trophies’: Gautam Gambhir defends India’s Test slump
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Rankings don’t matter; my job is to win trophies’: Gautam Gambhir defends India’s Test slump")
‘Rankings don’t matter; my job is to win trophies’ Gambhir defends Test slump Photograph: (AFP)
Gautam Gambhir defends India's Test record, asserting his job is to win trophies rather than chase views. Read his thoughts on WTC qualification, transition, and player backing.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has slammed the hype around Test rankings and talks about India’s slump in red-ball cricket. For the first time since beating West Indies in a home Test series in October, India won a Test match in Galle earlier this week. India, the two-time WTC finalists, currently sit fifth in the ongoing cycle with five wins, four losses, and a draw in 10 contested matches. For India to qualify for their third WTC final, they must at least win six of their remaining eight matches; Gambhir, however, feels no outside noise can affect his goal: to win ICC trophies for India.
"Rankings do not matter. We are not struggling. Since the England tour, we have played reasonable Test cricket," Gambhir said ahead of the Colombo Test.
Since Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Test retirements last year, India drew the away Test series in England (2-2), only beat the West Indies at home (2-0) but suffered a clean sweep against South Africa (0-2) in November – their second since losing a three-match home Test series (0-3) to New Zealand in late 2024. Even though India’s Test cricket is not close to its best, Gambhir feels the team hasn’t performed badly in Tests, and it’s going through a transition period.
"My job is to win trophies, not to garner views and likes. We’re not doing too badly in Test cricket since England, and this team is going through a transition phase," he added.
However, in their first away Test on this tour, India beat Sri Lanka by 165 runs, with spinners doing the major damage. Newcomer Manav Suthar has become an emerging star following his second five-wicket haul in only his second Test, and a maiden 10-wicket haul in the game. On the contrary, ace spinner Kuldeep Yadav has struggled to trouble the batters across formats.
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Speaking on providing him with an extended rope despite his lean patch, Gambhir said, "We will try to field the best bowling attack that can get us 20 wickets. Kuldeep is a good bowler, and sometimes it's up to the captain as well.”
