‘I need it…’: A rare example of Gautam Gambhir’s joke at a press conference in India | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: Fans hardly saw Gautam Gambhir in a jovial mood. The former Indian batter rarely smiles and usually displays a serious demeanor on and off the field. But after the second Test at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, Gambhir appeared lighter and even cracked a joke while answering a reporter’s question.Speaking on Indian skipper Shubman Gill’s workload, Gambhir joked that he himself would need a mental conditioning coach, given the number of matches India have played on the trot this year. “First of all, I need it,” he replied when asked if Gill should hire a mental conditioning coach. “It’s my birthday present. The coach is as good as the team,” he added.Gill has been playing non-stop over the past month, moving quickly from the Asia Cup to the West Indies series. He is set to begin his tenure as ODI leader when India take on Australia in a three-match series Down Under, starting on Sunday, October 19.For Gambhir, last year’s home match against New Zealand is still painful, highlighting the challenges of preparing for ranking turners. The Indian batting line-up, barring KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, is young. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill now have enough experience to handle difficult pitches.It is worth remembering that Virat Kohli’s Test average plummeted on such tracks, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja flourished, becoming world-class performers. On less useful pitches, finger spinners Jadeja and Washington Sundar are less threatening, while wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav remains a potent option.The venues for the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa will be crucial in gauging India’s strength at home, especially as there will be no red-ball cricket for the next eight months ahead of the Sri Lanka tour.With a young batting line-up gaining experience and players like Kuldeep adapting to different conditions, Gambhir remains optimistic about India’s ability to meet the challenges. Meanwhile, his lighter attitude after the match shows that even the most serious coach can find a moment of levity amid a busy cricket schedule.
