Indian batter Karun Nair was with the Indian team for the England tour and witnessed Gautam Gambhir’s faith in the young side and how the coach instilled belief in the youngsters after the retirement of the two veterans of Indian cricket.
India ended the series against England with a 2-2 draw; however, everyone has been busy praising Shubman Gill, the skipper, and Mohammed Siraj, the bowler who made the unbelievable happen, but none praised the Indian coach Gautam Gambhir for keeping the team motivated and for his unconventional strategies that proved to be right on several instances.
Though not talked about much, Gautam Gambhir has made a great comeback in the England series, showing better planning and sticking to the implementation of those plans, which ultimately led to India’s triumph.
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‘Not young, a Gun ‘team’—Karun Nair drops Gautam Gambhir’s dressing room mantra
The Indian Test team marked several changes in the England series, the biggest of them being the retirement of the two veterans, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The second biggest change was Shubman Gill’s appointment as the new young Indian Test skipper.
The third change that caught the attention of all was Karun Nair’s return to the Indian Test side after a long wait of more than 3000 days, since he was kept out of international action ever since his last appearance back in 2017.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, the middle-order batter Karun Nair opened up on how Gautam Gambhir had a clear approach and had set a success mantra for the side. He told everyone not to think of themselves as an inexperienced team, but rather to look at themselves as the gun side.
“Right at the very beginning, Gauti [Gautam Gambhir] bhai said, he doesn’t want us to look at it as a team in transition,” said Karun Nair.
“He didn’t want us to feel that way. The first message we got was ‘this isn’t a young team, this is a gun team and everyone must feel it from within.”
“The messaging within the group was that everyone plays for the team and supports each other. It’s one thing for the coach or the captain to say it, but to feel it was amazing,” Karun Nair concluded.
Lord’s daring stimulated Indian players to stage a fightback in the England series
Nair also mentioned that though India lost the Lord’s Test, which had crushed the hopes of several Indian fans, the Indian lower order’s grit and determination in the final innings at Lord’s inspired the Indian cricketers to not give up easily anytime further.
Indian batters since then staged several strong fightbacks, the first one in Manchester in the second innings, when the Indian middle order contributed significantly, and then in the Oval Test, when they posted a decent target after the first innings collapse.
On the Lord’s affair, Nair said, “From that position, where we had lost so many wickets, to see the fight Nitish [Kumar Reddy] and [Mohammed] Siraj put up with Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] was inspiring. That never-give-up attitude was on display. There was disappointment at losing the Test, but everyone was inspired.”
He also mentioned how Rishabh Pant walking in to bat with a broken toe was another moment of inspiration for the players in the dressing room.
“Then to see Rishabh walk out to bat with a broken toe – it was one of the moments of the series. It was astonishing for everyone to see. It told you what a great player he is, and more importantly, the person he is. That kind of exemplified the philosophy of the team. Of putting everything first for the team, it’s not about individuals,” said Nair.
Karun Nair ended the England series in absolute dismay
The Indian middle-order, who returned to the Indian side after a long gap, made a significant impact in the India A game, as he scored a double hundred in the very first game, which made his return to the international stage further exciting.
Karun Nair failed to be promising for India in the Indian middle order, though he was tried in several different spots, including the no. 3 spot and the middle-order spots at no. 6 and no. 5. However, the former Vidarbha batter finished with just 205 runs in 8 innings with one half-century.
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