Dubai, Mar 5 (UNI) India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday came out swinging on, brushing aside speculation over Rohit Sharma’s future and his form and instead delivering a passionate defence of the captain’s fearless batting mindset.
Addressing the media ahead of the high-stakes Champions Trophy final, Gambhir hit for a six a question about how much longer Rohit would continue, considering his not-too-satisfactory form.
“Look, the final of the Champions Trophy is now coming up. What can I say before that? If your captain bats with such a tempo, it just gives a very good signal to the dressing room that we want to be absolutely fearless and courageous,” Gambhir said late Tuesday night, turning the focus to the impact his skipper has on the team’s morale and playing style..
Slamming traditional statistical analysis as an inadequate measure of a player’s worth, Gambhir took a dig at journalists and critics who focus on numbers rather than influence.
“You evaluate from the runs; we evaluate from the impact. That’s the difference. You evaluate from the stats; we evaluate from the impact. As journalists, as experts, you only look at numbers, averages. But as a coach, as a team, we don’t look at numbers or averages. If the captain puts up his hand first, then there is nothing better than that for the dressing room,” he declared.
