Gautam-Gambhir-

India Aims for 250+ Totals: Gambhir Defends High-Risk T20 Strategy

 

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has addressed rumours of a rift within the Indian cricket team, which surfaced during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Reports claimed that Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, and Ajit Agarkar were not on the same page. These rumours gained momentum as Team India struggled against Australia. However, Gambhir chose not to comment at the time. After leading India to a 4-1 T20I series victory against England, Gambhir broke his silence and explained the context behind such speculations.

 

Rumours Triggered by Poor Results

 

Gautam Gambhir, known for his candid comments, mocked the speculations in a post match interview in Mumbai. Explaining how rumours are more often than not surface when the team faces setbacks. “They have played a lot of cricket with each other. More importantly, a month back, there were a couple of other rumours flying around (laughs). That's what Indian cricket is all about. There will be so many things said about the dressing room when things are not going okay. But once results start going in your favour, things start falling in place,” he remarked.

Gambhir did not go out of his way to deny the rumours, but he did highlight the nature of the public and media view at times when fights become tough.

 

High-Risk, High-Reward T20 Approach

 

Gambhir also discussed India's evolving strategy in T20 cricket, emphasising on a “high risk, high reward” attitude. He stated that the team aims to consistently post high totals in the format, even at the expense of occasionally low totals. “That's the kind of T20 cricket we want to play. We don't want to fear losing a game of cricket. We want to play high-risk, high-reward cricket. And these guys have adopted that ideology really well,” Gambhir explained.

India’s recent performances reflected this aggressive approach. However, India scored 181 for 9 in the fourth T20I in Pune after losing early wickets. In the series decider at Mumbai, the team scored 247 for 9, scoring their fourth best score in the history of T20 cricket.

 

Targeting 250-260 Regularly

 

Gambhir further explained about the team's aim to post heavy totals time and again. But he admitted that such a strategy could lead to collapses and they must take big risks to capture big rewards. "We want to try and get to 250-260 regularly. And in trying to do that, there'll be games where we'll get bundled out for 120-130. And that is what T20 cricket is all about," he stated.

He stressed that this is what was needed for success in big tournaments and the team won’t shy away from losing the practice as long as they still keep it. “Unless and until you don't play that high-risk cricket, you won't get those big rewards as well. Most importantly, I think we're on the right track. Come those big tournaments, we want to continue playing this way and we don't want to fear losing anything,” Gambhir concluded.

 

Conclusion

 

Gautam Gambhir’s remarks have put an end both to the gossip of disputes within the Indian side and their ahead of its time T20 strategy. India is looking to continue their high risk, high reward approaches before bigger tournaments in the future.