Ind vs NZ 2024 – WTC – India coach Gautam Gambhir, more flexible than anything else in test cricket

“We want to be that team that can score 400 points a day again they batted for two days to win the draw,” Gambhir said ahead of India’s first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. If you play only one way, there is no growth.

“I can’t talk about world cricket, teams have their own ideas, their ways of playing Test cricket. I can only talk about my team. If we are ever in a situation like this, we have to bat for two days to play a draw. Test, we have players in the dressing room who can bat for two days. Ultimately, our first aim is to win game and if there is a situation where the team has to play a draw, we have to keep those options open. That’s the kind of Test cricket we want to play.”

As for the “high-risk, high-reward” approach, Gambhir was on board, and has no problem with India going 100 per cent as long as the batsmen play their natural games and play straight – even in Test cricket.

“Yes, we want people to be aggressive, we want people to go out and play their natural game. If they can play their natural game, if they can get 400-500 runs a day, why? That way – high risk, high rewards, high failure,” said Gambhir. “There will be days when we will gather 100 but we will continue to support our players.

“We want to play like that and that’s the way we want to please the people of this country and, even in Test cricket, we want to keep the game going and get results in whatever situation we’re in.”

“We want to try and play the game as hard as we can on the cricket field. When the game is over, we want to be as humble as possible”

Gautam Gambhir

“I think New Zealand is a completely different challenge,” Gambhir said. “We know that they are a very good team, they have very high quality players, they have players who can hurt us, they have players who can do the job for them too. They continue to fight and we expect them to fight, so we respect them, but we are not afraid of anyone.

“I have said many times that we will always respect all opponents. We want to make sacrifices. We want to try to play the game with great determination on the cricket field. When the game is over, we want to be as humble as possible.”

With a score of 74.24%, India are well placed for a third consecutive WTC finals appearance, and while a series win here will not guarantee them a place in the finals, it will make things easier for them especially given that they will next face Australia in the finals. five-match series in Australia.

“You see, the first thing is that the World Test Championship is in June [2025]. The second is that the Test match in Australia is on November 22. Right now, only New Zealand is on our mind and nothing else,” said Gambhir. “When you play international cricket, you don’t think about how to prepare yourself. with the five Test matches in the Australian series or the way to prepare for the final of the World Test Championship. Right now, the most important thing is how to be ready on November 16 at 9.30am. That’s very important because you don’t see that far ahead.

“Any game you play for your country, you try to win it regardless of who is against and where that series will take place. Whether it is New Zealand or Australia, we will try to win our country in every game.”