NEW DELHI: Although his squad has an all-win record going into the Champions Trophy final, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is not easily impressed, stated that his team is still looking for that “perfect game” and expressed hope that it will be found in Sunday’s summit match.
In Tuesday’s first semifinal in Dubai, India defeated Australia by four wickets, led by Virat Kohli’s well-paced 84.
“See, in international sport, you want to keep improving. You don’t say that you’ve ticked all the boxes. We still haven’t played a perfect game. I will never be satisfied with the performances,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.
Gambhir hoped that India will play that “perfect game” in the Champions Trophy final on March 9.
“We still have one more game to go. Hopefully, we can play a perfect game. We want to keep improving, we want to be ruthless on the cricket field but absolutely humble off the field as well,” he added.
To meet the needs of the team, India has made some audacious decisions, including moving KL Rahul to No. 6, playing four spinners, and moving Axar Patel to No. 5.
Although it may not make sense on the surface, Gambhir saw them as small parts of his larger scheme to keep the players “out of the comfort zone” in order to bring out their best.
“I think cricket is all about being out of your comfort zone, and that is how you grow. If everyone is in their comfort zone, then there is stagnation. So, I believe, and you’ve seen the results. I know you guys will keep going back to 3-1 in Australia.
“But everyone in the dressing room is staying out of the comfort zone be it the coaching staff, be it the players and hopefully we continue to do what is important for Indian cricket,” he said.
Gambhir will need to have a meeting with some senior players soon to learn about their ambitions for the future.
However, the former Indian opener is keeping that crucial and imminent conversation in mind while concentrating on the Champions Trophy final.
“I’m someone who tries to stay, as much as I can, in the present and at the moment, all I can say is that the entire focus is going to be on the game which is on the 9th.
“And then obviously there’s a long-term vision, there’s a long-term plan as well but at the moment, it’s only the 9th but after the 9th we can sit down and plan,” he added.
Gambhir also praised the team for its easy chase of a challenging 265-run total against the Aussies.
“I think it was very professional and the reason why I say that is because we had wickets in hand and that was the plan because we know that obviously pitches here in the second half can actually get a little slower.
“We actually planned the chase really well. If you see after 40 overs, we were only four down. We had two set batters in. So, we knew that the kind of quality we have, the kind of depth we had, we were always in control,” he noted.
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