We wanted to play this game as a must-win: Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir strategizes for India's Champions Trophy squad, focusing on wicket-taking options and nurturing young talent for future success.

Gautam Gambhir comes across as someone who always has the bigger picture in mind. On Wednesday (February 12, 2025), India hammered England by 142 runs to sweep the ODI series 3-0 but the head coach hardly cracked a smile in the post-match media briefing, for his eyes seemed set on the all-important Champions Trophy that will begin next week.

“There will never be a case where all the boxes will be ticked,” he declared. “We could have easily seen this game as a dead rubber. But we wanted to put ourselves under pressure and wanted to play this game as a must-win. And the guys actually turned up like that.”

On Tuesday, India brought in spinner Varun Chakaravarthy in place of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in its Jasprit Bumrah-less Champions Trophy squad. Gambhir stated that it was done to increase their wicket-taking options. Varun sat out of the Ahmedabad ODI because of a sore right calf, but Gambhir revealed that it was more precautionary.

“We wanted another wicket-taking option in the middle [overs] and we know Varun can be a massive threat,” he said. “With a lot of teams not having played him, he could be an X-factor as well.

“I’m not going to say that he’s going to start [every game]. But it’s always good to have a strong bowling line-up. Otherwise, Yashasvi has got a fabulous future ahead. It’s just that we could only pick 15 [players].”

Gambhir also expressed confidence that centurion Shubman Gill would extend his superb ODI form into Test cricket in the near future.

“The problem is that we keep judging people after every innings. Shubman is still a young batter… he is still 25. If someone can do it in 50-over cricket, why can’t he in Tests? He has played some really good innings in the Test format. You have to trust these young players. Imagine what can happen in the next couple of years if we keep backing him...”