Gambhir praises India's aggressive approach in T20I series win

After India's 3-2 T20I series victory in New Zealand, head coach Gautam Gambhir lavished praise on the team. More crucially he was pointing towards their efforts in the first three fixtures, as India wrapped up the victory at the earliest possible opportunity. Given India's congested schedule of recent months, it deserved special praise.

For the Asian Games, which India won from September 24 to October 3, they sent a full-strength team to Japan. The gold medal and possibly a lot of jet lag later, they were back on the field for the T20Is against the West Indies on October 6. That series, of five matches, wrapped up on October 17. They then flew all the way to New Zealand on October 20th, practiced on 21st and were throw into a match situation a day later. India performed like the T20 champions they have been for the last couple of years, pulling off three big chases over the next six days, which included smashing 199 in just 13.2 overs.

Gambhir stated, "Aside from winning, the biggest achievement is how they've handled the conditions and how ruthless they were in the first three games."

"It's an incredible effort because the boys got only one day to prepare. They arrived on the 20th, and we practiced on the 21st. The conditions were different, the weather was different, and the dimensions were different. We were playing a quality team like New Zealand in their own backyard, and most of the boys were visiting New Zealand for the first time. The head coach went on to say, "I think boys can be extremely, extremely proud of their efforts, especially when you barely have time to prepare."

The first victory was not easy. 225 were scored by New Zealand. India flew, but it wobbled in the middle of the overs. Before Naman Dhir won the match with a 15-ball 42, Shreyas Iyer fought on with a 28-ball 42. In the second T20I, chasing 188, India were down to 70/5 before the trio of Tilak Varma, Naman and Nitish Reddy saw the chase through.

"Three young boys got us over the line in the second Twenty20 International, and we chased 199 in 14 overs (13.2), winning the first game after just one practice session. That is what is called ruthlessness. We also wanted to win the next two, but sometimes things don't work out as well for you. "How they were able to handle pressure, how they were able to handle conditions, and most importantly, how ruthless they were in the first three games is, in my opinion, the biggest achievement," Gambhir stated.

The T20I captaincy tenure of Shreyas Iyer began with a stumble but has since stabilized with consecutive victories. After losing to Ireland and England, India has won in Zimbabwe, against Afghanistan, Japan, and the Asian Games. Before coming to New Zealand, they split the spoils with the West Indies (2-2). After taking stock of everything that had happened, Gambhir thanked the captain for the job he had done, especially considering that he had to use a bowling attack that was not very experienced.

"He took over a very, very successful T20 team when he took over. The group that had not lost a series in two years and had won the World Cup, which was more important. That they have not lost a single series for two years and gone on to win the World Cup is something that I don't think any other team in the world has accomplished.

"And obviously, we had challenging oppositions as well. Following the World Cup, we traveled to England. More importantly, we had provided that opportunity to numerous new guys. We did lack a lot of experience, especially when you tour places like England and New Zealand.

"But this is a great opportunity as well, that if you start thinking of building for the next World Cup, you've got to give young players the opportunity and try and develop them being on the road as well. because you can see the amount of experience we had in a bowling lineup after the World Cup and during the World Cup. It is always challenging. Given that the bowling lineup is so young, I thought Shreyas had done an excellent job. Because you can only be as good as your bowlers or batters as a captain. I think he's done a fantastic job, especially with a new attack."