New Delhi (Nilesh Tiwari): After the series loss against Australia, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir says, players who are committed to playing red-ball cricket will compete in domestic tournaments.
Players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have long shunned India’s premier red-ball tournament, the Ranji Trophy, were probably the target of this.
The coach encouraged the underperforming seniors in spite of this, saying they still had the motivation to be successful.
India’s captain, Rohit, decided to rest for the last Test because of a weak patch with the bat. Kohli also struggled during the series and was dismissed eight times in the similar manner.
Gambhir on Rohit and Virat’s future
They are tough people with hunger, they’ll decide what is best for Indian cricket,” said Gambhir at the post-match media interaction
On Rohit Sharma opted out –
“To keep the dressing room happy, I have to be honest and fair to everyone. Rohit Sharma showed accountability at the top,” said the head coach
On playing domestic cricket
“I would always like everyone to play domestic cricket, if they’re available. If you’ve commitment to play red ball cricket then play domestic”.
Head coach said, “every individual is well aware of his hunger and passion to play for the country. This is not my team or your team, this is the country’s team. We have honest people in our dressing room who know how much their contribution could benefit the team”.
On Mohammed Siraj –
Gambhir said “Siraj has been outstanding. I don’t think I have seen a guy run in like that every ball, despite not always being 100% – from the attitude point of view, Siraj was fantastic”.
On Rohit’s and Virat’s future –
“I can’t comment on the future of any Players, It is up to them. They have the hunger and commitment – hopefully they can do everything they could to take Indian cricket forward”. [Talking about Rohit & Kohli future]
On transition period –
“Too early to talk about transition, don’t know where we will be after five months”.
India will not qualify to the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the first time in the history of the game. Despite making it to the final in 2021 and 2023.
India will not be taking part in the Lord’s final in June 2025. India was eliminated after losing the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney on Sunday, January 5, by a margin of six wickets.
After winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1, Australia ended their ten-year wait for the coveted title and went to the final.
Australia will play a two-match Test series later this month, but their chances won’t be affected by the series’ result. India participated in 19 Test matches during the 2023–25 WTC cycle, winning nine, losing eight, and drawing two.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
