India vs South Africa, 2nd Test: Speaking to the press, head coach Gautam Gambhir conceded that India were below-par in the series defeat to South Africa. However, he remained defiant when asked about his future as Test coach, saying he is still the guy under whom India won the Champions Trophy, the Asia Cup.
00:00It lies with everyone in that dressing room and starts with me to everyone in that dressing room.
00:21I've said it before as well that we went together, we lose together.
00:25So I'm not going to be someone who's going to say that it lies with X, Y or Z.
00:29It lies with everyone sitting in that room, as simple as it can get.
00:32That is what team sport is all about.
00:34Yes, Gautam, but if we look at the four innings, we have crossed our battles, we have crossed
00:42200 just once.
00:43So in the beginning you said that they should have got that one, but before there's an issue
00:48with playing speed.
00:49Now even the wicket that we have got here, at some point should the buck be stopping with
00:54the battles?
00:55Again, the buck should be stopping with everyone, as simple.
00:59As simple.
01:00Because yes, we need to apply better.
01:01At one stage we were 95 for 1.
01:02I'm sure you guys must be watching the game.
01:04From 95 for 1 to 120 for 7, it's not acceptable.
01:09And we keep talking about obviously spin, but then one seamer got four wickets in that spell.
01:15And we've had these collapses in the past as well.
01:17Someone needs to put their hand up and say that I'm going to stop this, stop this, whatever
01:23you call it, the collapse.
01:25For me, I think that is something that was that 30 minute spell that obviously took us
01:30away from the game as well.
01:31Because at one stage on day three, we were pretty much in control of the game where we
01:35were 95 for 1.
01:36And then from there, to lose five or six wickets for nothing on the board literally was always
01:41pushing us back.
01:42But then you come from a generation where you were such a brilliant player of spin.
01:48So what exactly has happened?
01:50I'm just talking about this game where that four defeats, if I take Bandolo out of the
01:56equation last year.
01:57We have become such sitting ducks against spin.
02:00Look, first of all, a series against New Zealand, we had a very different side.
02:07And this is a very different side.
02:08I'm sure you guys cover a lot of cricket and I'm sure when you see this batting line-up,
02:12to when you see that batting line-up.
02:14The experience that that batting line-up and the experience that that team had to what
02:17this team has is choc and cheese.
02:19So comparing everything to New Zealand is probably a wrong narrative.
02:23Okay, you've got four or five players.
02:25I don't give excuses.
02:26I've never done that in the past.
02:28I will never do it in the future as well.
02:30But if you see four or five batters in this top eight have literally played literally
02:34less than 15 test matches.
02:36And they will grow.
02:37They're learning on the job.
02:39They're learning on the field.
02:40Test cricket is never easy.
02:41When you're playing against a top quality side.
02:43So you've got to give them time as well.
02:45So for me, I think that is something they'll keep learning.
02:48Hopefully they keep learning.
02:49That is important because I know that I hate using this word transition.
02:54This is exactly what transition is.
02:56When you've got in test cricket, when you've got your batting line-up, which is literally
03:00played less than 15 to 20 test matches, they need time to absorb pressure.
03:05They need time to keep getting better against quality attacks and against quality sides.
03:11So you spoke about experience and someone needed to put a hand at it and stop this.
03:18So a specific question.
03:20Like the shot that Tricia gave.
03:22Like the broker is very new to test cricket.
03:24Situational awareness will grow in time.
03:27But the captain of the side, 40 test matches, he knows the situation.
03:31Do you expect better from the captain of the side?
03:33Look, I expect better from everyone.
03:36I expect better from myself to everyone in that room.
03:39I'm not going to sit here and say that I expect something better from one individual.
03:44The point is, if you want to win test matches against quality sides, we need to expect better
03:49from everyone.
03:50And that is how you win test matches.
03:51You don't blame one individual shot.
03:53You don't blame one individual playing in a certain way.
03:57You blame everyone.
03:58So me talking about an individual, I've never done that, I'm not going to do it.
04:02You know, first and foremost, we should never forget people who do well in white ball cricket.
04:27They should not forget that what they've done in red ball cricket.
04:29Very easily, media, us, fans, everyone stops forgetting about what they've done in test matches.
04:36And I don't want to forget that.
04:38To be honest, we go forward, we've got a lot of white ball cricket.
04:41If someone gets a 40 ball 50 or an 80 ball 100, the reality is that we still need to keep getting better in red ball cricket.
04:48Because if we are really serious about being the top test team in the world, I think we cannot put things under the carpet.
04:55Because the reality is, we still need to improve a lot in red ball cricket.
04:58Whether it's mentally, whether it's technically, whether it's absorbing pressure, whether it's sacrificing, whether it's putting team ahead of your individual self.
05:07And most importantly, not playing for the gallery.
05:12You said that you also are responsible for what's happened over the last year.
05:20Are there specific things you feel that you could have done better, decisions you could have taken differently?
05:27And do you think you're still the right man for the job, especially in history?
05:32I, there is, to be honest, there is no hindsight to sport.
05:38Whatever decision we've taken, we've taken for the best interest of the team.
05:42And we absolutely believed that those were the right decisions which could get the job done for the country and for the team.
05:48And the second question, it is up to BCCI to decide.
05:51I've said it during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach, Indian cricket is important, I'm not important.
05:57And I sit here, say exactly the same thing.
06:00And yes, people can keep forgetting about it.
06:02I'm the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team.
06:06And I'm sure you guys will forget very soon because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand.
06:11And I'm the same guy who won Under Who, who won Champions Trophy and Asia Cup as well.
06:17Yes, this is a team which has less experience.
06:21And I've said it before as well, that they need to keep learning and they're putting everything possible
06:26to turn the tide.
06:29Doctor, just in terms of the use of unacceptable money for apps, with that I suppose comes accountability.
06:36How do you sort of modify accountability from a team perspective?
06:41That's a great question. I expected something like that.
06:44It comes from care.
06:46What you care about the dressing room, how much you care about the dressing room and the team.
06:50Because accountability and game situation can never be taught.
06:53Yes, you can talk about the skills, you can work on the skills, you can keep talking about the mental aspect of the game,
06:58but ultimately when you go in, if you keep putting the team ahead of your own self,
07:02not thinking this is how I play, and this is how I will get the results, and this is how I play,
07:07I don't want to play the second, I don't have plan B.
07:10So sometimes you will get these kind of collapses as well.
07:13So for me, I think, yes, accountability is important, and more than the accountability,
07:17it's the care what, how much you care about in cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well.
07:23You talked about not blaming anybody, but have you been able, as a coach, have you been able to identify what is the reason for the bundles?
07:36You spoke about technique and temperament of that after the World Cup defeat, but this time you would have thought more about it.
07:45Yeah, absolutely, I just said it, that from 95 for 1 to 120 for 5, I'm sure that is not technical.
07:53That is more mental and that is about how much you care for the dressing room, and how much test cricket means to all of us in that dressing room.
08:00That is important, and it's just, the game has just got over, obviously you keep thinking about as well what needs to be done and where can we get better at it.
08:07And as I just said, that we need to keep getting better, we need to keep getting better individually and more importantly collectively as a team.
08:13And that is something we should be going to keep working on.
08:16Jatham, you speak about getting better and improving, but as I asked, what would you say is the most critical aspect going forward that you need to address immediately in terms of improvement?
08:29If you had to prioritise?
08:30Start prioritising test cricket, if you are really, really serious about test cricket.
08:36And that is something which is important, that is going to happen overall, where everyone needs to be the stakeholder for that.
08:43So if we really care about test cricket, if we want test cricket to flourish in India, I think we've got to have a collective effort to make that happen.
08:54Because just blaming the players or just blaming the support staff or just blaming certain individuals will not help.
09:00And as I just said, that we can't put things under the carpet.
09:03Come the white ball formats, if you get runs in white ball formats, suddenly you forget about what you've done in red ball cricket.
09:10That should never happen because red ball cricket is a completely different challenge to white ball cricket and is a completely different challenge what you get in T20 cricket.
09:17There needs to be different skill sets.
09:19And more importantly, there needs to be tough characters that are important to be a successful test side.
09:26You don't need the most skillful and the most flamboyant players to succeed in test cricket.
09:30You need the toughest characters with limited skills who will go on to succeed in test cricket, irrespective of how the conditions and what the situation is.
09:39We've talked a lot about the management also in the last couple of series.
09:51It seems even that our spinners have not been as effective as some of the spinners that have come from.
09:57So in terms of looking obviously as we try now, do you have a sense of idea of who the next set of spinners who are going to take over from like Sebastian and even Jadeda
10:08Jadeda is probably in the last phase of his career. And is there a concern that we are not seeing a good crop in domestic cricket as well?
10:17Look, that's why we are giving as many opportunities as we can to someone like Washi.
10:22But if you expect Washi to deliver straight away what Ashwin did after playing more than 100 test matches, it's unfair on that young kid.
10:29And that is what you guys need to think as well. That he's what? 10, 12, 15 test matches old?
10:36He's learning his trade. He's learning to bowl in different conditions. He's learning to bowl in different situations as well.
10:42And obviously it's tough when you lose so many experienced players at the same time.
10:48And that is why it is called transition. That is why it is called that these guys need time, whether it's the batting unit or the bowling unit.
10:57I don't think so ever in Indian cricket. Something like this has happened where the transition is happening in spin bowling department and in a batting department as well.
11:04Normally, when your batting is secure or your batting has experience, then your team goes through a bowling transition.
11:09But with this test team, obviously the transition is happening in both the skill sets, whether it's the bowling department or the batting department as well.
11:19So you guys and all of us need to give them time and I'm sure they've got the skill, they've got the talent, they've got the ability, that's why they're sitting in that dressing room and they've delivered.
11:28Yes, obviously consistency sometimes could be difficult because you expect consistency in test cricket.
11:33That consistency will come with experience. When they bowl, when they play in difficult different situations, eventually they will deliver.
11:42You were saying about players in test cricket, how do we go about players in test cricket?
11:48Is there any quote back from your point of view, in terms of scheduling, in terms of players prior to performance, how do you go?
11:58Look, obviously scheduling do make a difference. Imagine three days back, three days before the start of the first test match we were in Australia.
12:07And suddenly you come back from there and you have to join a test team and you've got two days to plan with the test side.
12:14But that again is not an excuse and I'm not going to give that excuse as well.
12:18Sometimes we can probably prioritise this better, we can have more gaps in the middle, so that we can probably start working on certain skill sets.
12:24Because working for two days on a certain skill set where we always knew that they had quality spinners.
12:29They had two really, really experienced spinners. So that would have always been a challenge for a test side.
12:33So that can help. But yes, there is no excuse from where we were in this test match to where we lost the momentum.
12:42From 95.41 it wasn't the skill set, it was something else. It was just probably not the mental application.
12:47There were eight months to go for the next test series and would you like to see the top players and most of the players playing this domestic season and are playing in most of the matches including you and all top players in the past have given a lot of importance to your game days for domestic cricket.
13:07That is anyways a policy. BCCI policy that's there that when you're available you have to go and play domestic cricket.
13:13Again, that comes with accountability that also comes with how much you want to do well in test cricket.
13:18You can't just keep telling players at international level that you've got to go and play domestic cricket.
13:23If you feel that that's the best way for you to prepare yourself for test cricket, I think it has to come from within.
13:29As simple as it can get. And again, a certain skill set, if you want to work on your defence, if you want to work on playing spin, if you want to work on batting long hours, those things can only be done in domestic cricket or probably how you plan before a test series.
13:44So that has to be individually and obviously from a support staff, it has to be planned better.
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