The tour of Sri Lanka led Indian cricket enter the Gautam Gambhir era. India won the T20I series, while they lost the ODI series. After a pretty long break, the Indian cricket team starts off into action against Bangladesh with a Test series starting on September 19. This will be the true test of Gambhir’s leadership.
Rishabh Pant Opines About ‘The Gautam Gambhir Era’
Rishabh Pant would form one of the keys to India’s future in the games to come. Both Gambhir and Pant originally hail from Delhi cricket, having represented the team at the national level. In an interview with EspnCricinfo, Pant spoke about the changing face of Indian cricket owing to Gautam Gambhir.
“What is the biggest change that can happen under Gautam Gambhir and how it can take Indian cricket forward?” the anchor asked Pant.
“I feel Rahul bhai was very balanced as a human being and as a coach. It could be both good and bad, because in cricket there can be positives. This is upon the individuals whether to focus on the positives and negatives, and it depends on where individuals want to focus. Gauti bhai (Gambhir) is more aggressive, he’s very one-sided about the fact that you have to win. But you need to find the right balance and improve. This is the best part of international cricket,” Pant said on JioCinema.
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No Team Can Be Taken Lightly
Rishabh Pant cautioned against any kind of complacency against Bangladesh ahead of the two-Test series, saying India have to keep evolving if they want to stay ahead of their competitors. Bangladesh, fresh from a 2-0 sweep of Pakistan in Rawalpindi, take on Rohit Sharma’s team in the first Test in Chennai starting September 19 before the series moves to Kanpur.
All in all, India will be playing 10 Test matches in the next five months. Following the series against Bangladesh, the Indians will host New Zealand in a three-Test series from October to November, following which the team will tour Australia to play the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka perform well in Asian conditions because they are accustomed to the wickets,” Pant told Jio Cinema.
“As the Indian cricket team, we focus solely on our own standards and how we can improve. Regardless of the opposition, we strive to play with the same intensity and give our 100 percent every single day,” he said.
Rishabh Pant clearly opined that no team can be taken lightly as the competition is increasing and the margin is decreasing.
“Pressure will always be there because in international cricket, you can’t take any series lightly. The margin between winning and losing is very small, and nowadays, the gap between international teams isn’t much either,” he said.
Pant then said that this Duleep Trophy prior to an exhausting Test season will provide much-needed match practice to the players. He also feels that youngsters in domestic cricket will benefit a great deal by competing against their international counterparts.
