Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir’s new definition of a ‘finisher’ has set new standards for India in World Cricket. He pointed out that only no. 5 to no. 7 batters should not be tagged as the finishers, but any player who goes on to finish the game should be tagged with the same title.
Indian coach Gautam Gambhir took over as the head coach of the Men in Blue last year from Rahul Dravid after India won the ICC T20 World Cup. Gambhir, within a year of his appointment, already has considerable success in white-ball cricket and one ICC trophy as well.
Though he is still figuring out his winning formula in red-ball cricket, Gambhir’s strategies in limited-overs cricket have set new standards, and now the Indian coach shifts his focus to the often-mentioned need for a finisher in a T20 game.
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Gautam Gambhir hails Virat Kohli as a finisher and rules out the need for the tag
Gambhir has always mentioned cricket as a team game, and there has never been any place for individual brilliance on his side, since he lauds players for pulling off a game together instead of patting the shoulders of only one of the players while ignoring others.
With this, Gambhir mentions that the tag ‘finisher’ is actually nothing more than a media gimmick, as every player who finishes the game and wins it for you can be a finisher, so why are only lower middle-order batters offered this tag?
“I have never understood why the finisher’s tag is given only to Nos. 5 to 7. An opener can also be a finisher. A No. 11 can also be a finisher. This has just been created by the media,” Gambhir once said, as quoted by the Indian Express
“There was probably no finisher 10 years ago. There can’t be a better finisher than Virat Kohli because of the number of games he has won. So don’t call only the Nos. 5, 6 and 7 as finishers. Whoever scores the last run is a finisher,” he had added.
Instead of putting all the load of scoring several runs on just one player, he likes to distribute the responsibilities to all players and keep everyone engaged to avoid failures and losing matches.
India has a huge pool of players to choose from for their middle-order
Before the Asia Cup, the Indian selectors, headed by Ajit Agarkar, and the Indian management, headed by Gautam Gambhir, have a huge task to be done, which includes picking a suitable T20I XI.
Ever since the last T20 World Cup, India’s focus has totally been on the other two formats; however, the next 6 months are for the shortest format of the game, especially with the ICC T20 World Cup in 2026.
India has their top 5 spots almost confirmed with the likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, skipper Suryakumar Yadav, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. However, the search for the no. 6 and no. 7 has gotten tougher, as they have the likes of Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, and now also Jitesh Sharma, who can all be valuable for India.
Nitish Kumar Reddy would not be available for selection owing to the injury he sustained during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy’s Lord’s Test.
Gambhir has a special affinity for all-rounders; How would his Asia Cup Squad look
The Indian coach is known to have a special corner for all-rounders, as he likes keeping additional bowling options on the side, especially with Hardik Pandya, to whom he had often entrusted the new ball, as witnessed in the England series.
As per India’s current players, the likes of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Riyan Parag are most likely to make the cut; however, Shivam Dube seems the ideal candidate to cater to India’s need for a big hitter. Dube has one of those conventional long levers, while Rinku, on the other hand, is a more technical six-hitter, though they maintain a similar strike rate towards the death overs.
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