“You should be playing all the three formats”: Gautam Gambhir opens up about his players selection approach

New Delhi [India], July 12 (ANI): India’s newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir said that his approach to picking players won’t be based on a particular format as he feels players who are “good enough” should play all three formats.

Earlier this week, a new era in Indian cricket began after Gambhir succeeded Rahul Dravid as the new head coach. Apart from Dravid’s departure, the stalwart trio Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja announced their retirements from the T20I format.

An action-packed schedule lies ahead of Gambhir and the Indian team. There have been speculations about the pool of players who could play under the new regime.

But Gambhir has made his selection process clear by stating his strong belief in players featuring across all three formats.

“I’m a very strong believer in one thing, that if you’re good, you should be playing all the three formats. I’ve never been a big believer in injury management, you get injured, you go get recovered. As simple as it gets. When you’re playing international cricket and you’re good enough, you ask any of the top players, if they want to play all the three formats. They don’t want to stay, and they don’t want to be labelled as red-ball bowlers or white-ball bowlers. Injuries are part of sportsman’s life,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

“If you’re playing all the three formats, you get injured, you go back, get recovered, but you should be playing all the three formats. I am not a big believer in identifying people that, we’re going to keep him for test matches or other formats. We’re going to manage his injury and workload and stuff. Professional cricketers, you’ve got a very small span when you’re playing for your country, and you want to play as much as you can. And when you’re in very good form, go ahead and play all the three formats,” he added.

Gambhir, during his playing days, was known for his aggressive style of play. He carried his aggression when he stepped into the management role, where his aggression was on display during his time as a mentor with Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders.

While talking about his approach towards the game, there was only one message from Gambhir, play with honesty.

“There’s only one message, that tries and plays with honesty. Try and be as honest as you can with your profession. Results will follow. When I picked up the bat, I never thought of the results. I never thought that I was going to score these many runs. I’ve always believed that I have to be as honest as I can to my profession. Live on certain principles, live on certain values. Try and do the right things. Try and do things even if you think the whole world is against you. But your heart believes that you’re doing the right thing for the best interest of the team,” Gambhir said.

“Whether I’ve been aggressive on the cricket field, whether I’ve had confrontations with people, just because it was all in the best interest of the team. Try and do that because, ultimately, it’s the team that matters, not the individual. So, go out there and only think of one thing, that try and make your team win. Whichever team you play for, because that is what team sports demands. It is not an individual sport where you think about your own self. It is a team sport, where it is the team that comes first. You’re probably the last one that comes in the entire line-up,” Gambhir added.

The former southpaw batter played a starring role in India’s title triumphs in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2011.

He also captained Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL title victories in 2012 and 2014 and later mentored the team to another title win in 2024.

His first assignment as the head coach of the Indian team will begin with the Men in Blue’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, which will kick off on July 26.