• Home
  • Cricket News
  • 3 Key Takeaways From Gambhirs First Press Conference As Indian Coach

3 Key Takeaways From Gambhir's First Press Conference As Indian Coach

Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar during the former's first ever press conference as the Head Coach of India [X]Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar during the former's first ever press conference as the Head Coach of India [X]

Indian cricket is undergoing a major transition at present. The change in leadership roles is at the centre of this transformation.

Rahul Dravid finished his coaching tenure with the Indian national team on a great high as the team managed to emerge as the champions of the T20 World Cup 2024. After Dravid left the seat, Gautam Gambhir took up the job. He has set himself to action by sorting out his coaching staff for the past few days, having a say in the squad selection for India's next assignment in Sri Lanka, and then attending a press conference with the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar. 

Quite a few points were discussed in Gautam Gambhir's first-ever press conference as the head coach of India. Here are three key takeaways from the event. 


Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli part of India's plan for the ODI World Cup 2027

India had a great run in the ODI World Cup 2023. They made it to the summit clash of the tournament undefeated. However, as luck and destiny would have it, Australia outplayed India in the final and denied them the trophy. 

This left Rohit Sharma's trophy cabinet devoid of the ODI World Cup. Notably, he was not a part of the team during India's win in 2011. Virat Kohli was there in 2011. However, he has not been part of an ODI World Cup-winning team after becoming a senior member and a part of the leadership core of the team. 

After the failure in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, the fans were left wanting to see Kohli and Rohit lifting the ODI World Cup together. The next shot at that would be in 2027, when Rohit and Virat's ages would be 40 and 38, respectively. There were doubts regarding these two legends being a part of India's plan till then. However, in this press conference, Ajit Agarkar clarified the situation and said that these two would be a part of the World Cup squad if they wish to play.



Hope for Ravindra Jadeja's white-ball career

Ajit Agarkar was asked about dropping Ravindra Jadeja for the ODIs in Sri Lanka. The veteran all-rounder has announced his retirement from the T20Is and will now be available to play the two longer formats in the international arena. However, the Indian management decided to select Washington Sundar and Axar Patel for the ODIs in Sri Lanka. This gave rise to speculation that Jadeja's white-ball career had probably seen its end. 

However, when asked about this, Agarkar made it clear that Jadeja is not going to Sri Lanka because of his workload management. With a long Test season coming ahead, they are looking to give Jadeja ample rest and not exhaust him. Here is what Agarkar said on the matter - 

"There was no point in picking both Axar and Jadeja. One would have been benched anyways. Jadeja is not dropped. A long Test season is coming".


Hardik Pandya's fitness prohibited them from being the captain in the T20Is

If one looks at the selections of the Indian management before the T20 World Cup 2024, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, one would think that Hardik Pandya was being groomed to be the next captain, at least in ODIs and T20Is. However, when the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka T20Is was announced, Suryakumar Yadav was selected as the captain of the team. 

This move by the Indian management gave rise to a lot of speculations and discussions. However, Ajit Agarkar has made it clear that India is looking to conserve Hardik, as injuries have been a big concern in his career so far. Suryakumar Yadav is someone who is expected to play most of the T20Is as he is at present being considered for that format only and hence was given the captaincy.