Gautam Gambhir (Twitter)
Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as India’s head coach got off to a memorable start as the Men in Blue whitewashed Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series in Pallekele.
After India won the third T20I in the Super Over, Gambhir lauded his players for the fight they showed, especially when the chips were down with Sri Lanka needing just 30 runs off the last five overs with nine wickets in the hut.
“Guys, congratulations on a great series win. Congratulations to Surya [Suryakumar Yadav] as well. Outstanding captaincy and more importantly with the bat as well. Guys, I asked for something before the start of the game and you absolutely delivered it. This is what happens when you keep fighting, you don’t give up, these kind of games happen, and the only way these games can happen is when we keep fighting on every delivery and for every run and this was the example,” Gambhir said in a video posted by the BCCI on its social media handles.
The third T20I was played on a dryish wicket where the spinners found a lot of grip and the batters had to work very hard for their runs. The former India cricketer said that the team needs to improve their skill sets on pitches like these. He spoke about the importance of assessing the conditions and identifying a par score.
“We keep getting better, we keep improving our skills as well, because we need to still get better on playing on wickets like these. Because we might end up getting these kind of wickets. So, we should first assess the situation and conditions really quickly and what is the par score as well. There is a lot of learning from this game, but more important than not is this is a great series win,” Gambhir stated.
Watch the video below:
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 💙
Head Coach Gautam Gambhir 🤝 Hardik Pandya address the dressing room as the action now shifts to the ODIs in Colombo #TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @GautamGambhir | @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/PFrTEVzdvd
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 31, 2024
India posted 137/9 in their 20 overs after being reduced to 48/5 at one stage. Sri Lanka were cruising along at 108/1 in 15 overs in their run-chase but they lost wickets in clusters at the backend to finish on 137/8. Washington Sundar dismissed Kusal Perera and Pathum Nissanka in the Super Over while conceding just two runs. Suryakumar Yadav took just one ball to topple the three-run target as he swept Maheesh Theekshana for a boundary.
Also Read: Watch: Gautam Gambhir laughs in jubilation as Rinku Singh bags maiden T20I wicket
India and Sri Lanka will now engage in a three-match ODI series in Colombo, with the first game scheduled to be played on Friday, August 2.