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Not a single Indian batter scored a century in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Still, India managed to post totals in excess of 250, three times in the tournament, including the semifinal and the final. After India’s 96-run win over New Zealand to win their third T20 World Cup title, head coach Gautam Gambhir hailed the mindset in the dressing room behind players valuing big scores over milestones. Gambhir does not wish to speak of milestones during his tenure.
"My simple philosophy, and Surya's too, has always been that milestones don't matter. It's the trophies that matter. For too long in Indian cricket, we have spoken about milestones. And I hope, till I am there, we are not going to talk about milestones,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
‘Stop celebrating milestones’
India’s wildcard entry, Sanju Samson, scored three consecutive half-centuries in must-win games. He contributed with an unbeaten 97 in the run chase against West Indies, followed by 89-run knocks against England and New Zealand in the semifinal and the final respectively. He explained how India’s chances of reaching 250 would’ve been hampered had Samson taken a conservative approach and thought about getting to his century.
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"You can see the last three games what Sanju [Samson] did. 97 not out, 89, 88. Imagine if he had been playing for a milestone, probably we wouldn't have got 250. So stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies. The bigger purpose of a team sport is to win trophies, not score individual runs. It has never mattered to me, and it will never matter to me,” Gambhir said.
Samson ended up becoming the 'Player of the tournament' despite getting benched for a few games until the off-spin issue led to a big loss to South Africa at Super 8 stage.
‘Difficult to change that mindset’
Gambhir also talked about discussions taking place where team first attitude was discussed. He feels that the shift in mindset is difficult. He credited the attacking mindset behind India posting plenty of totals in excess of 250 during his enure.
"The only thing we spoke about was how we can give ourselves the best chance to win this World Cup. And the best chance to give ourselves to win this World Cup was how we react when a batter is close to his hundred. If someone is batting on 94, does he have the courage to go and get a hundred next ball rather than thinking about getting a hundred for three or four balls,” the 44-year-old said.
"Sometimes it's very difficult to change that mindset. But all of them in the dressing room bought into that mindset. I don't remember in the last year or two that anyone tried for a single on 97 or 98. Because in this dressing room, your 97 or 98 will be appreciated as much as your hundred. We scored 270s, 280s, 250s, and the only way you could do it is when you're putting your team ahead of your own self. And everyone in that dressing room was putting the team ahead of themselves. That is the reason why we could achieve something special like this," he added.
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