Gautam Gambhir excelled in his first ever assignment as India's head coach as Suryakumar Yadav's men swept the T20I series against Sri Lanka with a dramatic win in the final match on July 30. However, right after the accomplishing his first goal Gambhir proved he is not seeking credit but is solely focused on one mission i,e Team India's success.
During the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, a glimpse of Gautam Gambhir's approach to white-ball cricket was evident, though not entirely. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side achieved a whitewash, adhering closely to the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid blueprint, which was crucial in India's journey to the 2023 World Cup final and their T20 World Cup victory. Gambhir also suggested that he expects even the top-order batters to contribute with a few overs, providing the captain with more options during a match.
Gautam Gambhir refuses to take spotlight
After securing victory, the team gathered to celebrate their triumph. Captain Suryakumar Yadav shared the winning moment with Riyan Parag and Rinku Singh, as photographers captured the joyous scene. The coaching staff soon joined the players at Suryakumar’s request. Recognizing Gambhir’s first match as head coach, Parag and Singh invited him to hold the trophy for a photo opportunity. However, the former World Cup winner humbly declined the spotlight, preferring to stand with his coaching team.
India edge Sri Lanka in Super Over thriller
Talking about the match, Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis provided a solid start for Sri Lanka in their chase of 138, but a familiar late-order collapse left them at 137/8 after 20 overs, forcing a Super Over. Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Rinku Singh, and captain Suryakumar Yadav each claimed two wickets for India. However, India needed only three runs to win the Super Over, sealing a series sweep.
Player of the Series, Suryakumar Yadav, explained India's strategy for defending 138 on the turning pitch.
"More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30/4 and 48/5, how the boys showed character in the middle and took the game away from them ... I felt 140 was a par score on that track. When we were going in during the fielding session, I told them, 'I have seen such kind of games. If we put our heart in for one and a half hours, we can pull it off," Suryakumar said at the post-match presentation.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka was left disappointed with Sri Lanka's shoddy performance, specifically their batting.
“I am really disappointed about our batting line-up, especially middle-order and late middle-order. Very bad shot selection was the reason. Spinners were bowling that's why Hasaranga came up the order. We gave him the license to hit one or two boundaries, that didn't work for us. Wrong shot selection on this pitch. When the ball gets old, our shot selection should be spot-on, it's really hard to bat on these tracks. Definitely (the target was gettable), we can't give excuses. As professional cricketers, we need to do little bit more than this. I want to see good batting performances in the ODIs, not like T20s. Our top three and four have done well and that's the only positive I have. Boys will do something better,” Asalanka said after the match.
India will now focus on their next assignment i.e three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka which is slated to start from August 2.
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