Growth is not only going about hitting the ball in the stands – Gautam Gambhir

India will have a must-win match at hand when they lock horns with New Zealand in Mumbai for the third Test. With a defeat in the first two matches, India has already lost the Test series and now will be hoping to avert the whitewash that may be a massive varnish on India’s record at home. Ahead of India’s important fixture, Gautam Gambhir shed light on the importance of adaptability for Rohit Sharma and company.

Talking at the pre-match presser, Gambhir said, “I'll keep going back to the same answer that a lot has to do with limited over-cricket and T20 cricket as well that when you're so used to muscling the ball, that you end up forgetting the soft hands and all that stuff, which probably used to happen eight or 10 years back. So that is something, that is why I said that a complete cricketer is a cricketer who plays T20 format really successfully and also Test cricket really successfully. He can adapt his game. And that is what growth is.”

He further added, “Growth is not only going about hitting the ball in the stands. It's also about batting sessions on a turning track, where you know that you will not be able to hit in the stands, but you will be able to rotate better. For that, I think the foundation is very, very important."

Emphasizing further on the importance of defence, Gambhir added, “To a certain extent, it has to come from the individual as well. That how much value does he end up giving it in defending the ball? That is something which is very important. And especially on a turning track. Because I've always believed that the best players and the most successful players in this format, or be it any format, always had solid defense. So that is something which we keep talking about. And it is not the overnight thing that we're going to talk about it today and people will start getting better tomorrow. But it's a continuous process. We need to keep working on it. We need to keep telling people the importance of defense."

He concluded by stating, “Going forward, obviously, we will have to identify players who are solid red-ball cricketers. Because ultimately, to get the results, you will have to work really hard for three or four days or five days to be honest. So sometimes, as I just mentioned, it's important. If we can bat sessions, we know that we've got the bowling attack to take 20 wickets. At the moment, it's difficult to answer."