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Gautam Gambhir column: There is no insecurity in India's dressing room

But the situation was different when the team was run by Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri

Published: Thu 2 Nov 2023, 4:30 AM

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  • Gautam Gambhir

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Indian team coach Rahul Dravid with captain Rohit Sharma. — PTI

Indian team coach Rahul Dravid with captain Rohit Sharma. — PTI

I am sure you all must be liking the BTS (Behind The Scenes) videos of the Indian team. Personally, I absolutely love them. I mean they are fun as they bring out the boys in these men. Especially the one that has their fielding coach T. Dilip presenting a medal to a team member for his fielding efforts. Each time he does it there is a novel way of announcing the winner.

Sometimes the name flashes on a giant screen of a stadium, sometimes it is the spidercam which is bringing the good news hanging around it. The ‘presentation’ includes a short speech, celebrations and a tons of laughter.


There is a reason why I started today’s column with a mention of those videos. A lot of people feel that these are team-bonding activities. They bring these individuals closer to each other which help them perform as a team.

My take is slightly different. The reasons why the entire Indian team looks so happy and cheerful in those videos are as follows: Firstly, they are winning. There is no better spot than the top of a points table in a tournament like World Cup.

Secondly and more importantly there is no insecurity in that dressing room. Each and every player knows what is happening and are happy to wait for their turn. Jog your mind to how the previous regime of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri functioned. There was regular chopping and changing during that phase which is never good for the players’ morale. I feel ‘Horses for Courses’ is a very lame phrase when you are trying to build a team culture.

Compared to that Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid combo are giving their players opportunities, space to function their own way and hence the team is Living It Large through some ruthless brand of cricket.

If Mohammad Shami was not playing earlier in the tournament that was part of a plan. The team management wanted to unleash him in certain conditions and against certain oppositions. Along the way Shami was communicated what was happening which is crucial for a player’s confidence and a team’s environment. Look how the Rohit-Rahul combo persisted with KL Rahul. Both inside that dressing room and outside there was consistency in communication that KL Rahul is very much part of the team’s long term plans.

I am sure this dressing room can help anyone who is facing an individual challenge. That is why I feel even Shreyas Iyer is not too far from bossing against a short-pitch ball. A selfless leader like Rohit will do everything possible to instill confidence in his young team-mate. Personally I feel Shreyas has the skills to handle short and quick bowling, all he needs is to be judicious about which balls to pull or hook.

At the moment he is being a compulsive puller. For example in the last game against England, that short ball by Chris Woakes was not there to be played that pull shot. It was much higher than Shreyas’ eyeline. It is impossible or tough to control a pull shot from that height. Rohit is a wonderful exponent of that shot and I am sure he will be in Shreyas’ ears all the time.

Today’s game in Mumbai can be a run feast on a small ground and flat pitch. If given a choice I’d prefer to see another bowling show by the Indians rather than batters day out.

Sri Lanka are struggling to put together any convincing show this tournament. I am not surprised that they are number seven on the points table. There is something dearly missing in their cricket. They have some individual brilliance but as a team, they have a lots of ground to cover. I think that is why India are licking their lips. (Gameplan/Dinesh Chopra Media)



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