The head coach of India, Gautam Gambhir was quoted as saying on Thursday, “Discussions should remain in the dressing room; everything is open to collaboration between the players and me”. The coach said these words, after stating that even with some performance from the team, no coach could ensure that a player would feature in the set-up. Amid reports of unrest in the dressing room, Gambhir sought to douse the fire by declaring that they were ‘just reports, not truth’. “Debates between coach and player should remain in a dressing room. Stern words. They were just reports not truth,” Gambhir said in the pre-match press meet ahead of India’s fifth and final Test against Australia, beginning here on Friday.
“Indian cricket will be in safe hands till honest people stay in dressing rooms. Only thing that keeps you in the dressing room is performance.” There were honest words and honesty is necessary,” he added.
“There’s only one inclination, and there’s only one discussion – it’s the Team First ideology that matters. You need to play what the team needs. You can still play your natural game in a team sport-but when the team needs you, you need to play some kind of way,” the head coach. The coach also said that currently the team was only focused on the goal on winning the Sydney Test: “That’s what we are concentrating right now on winning this match,” he asserted.
“Gambhir also mentioned that he never had any talks with senior batter Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma except for the strategies defining how to make it through in Test matches”.
“Every individual knows what areas are required to be worked on. We have had only one communication with them (that is) how to win Test matches,” he said.
However, Gambhir has confirmed that pacer Akash Deep has been ruled out of the New Year Test due to a stiff back but did not announce a replacement for him.
