NEW DELHI: After India’s 2-1 T20I series triumph over Australia, head coach Gautam Gambhir shared insights into the fearless and flexible approach driving the team’s resurgence in the shortest format.
He made it clear that his focus is on impact rather than numbers such as averages or strike rates, calling it the cornerstone of India’s new T20 mindset.
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Impact over numbers
In a video interview released by the BCCI, Gambhir explained that his coaching philosophy has remained consistent since he took charge following the 2024 T20 World Cup. He said while the openers have fixed roles, the rest of the batting order is designed to stay fluid and situational.
“That has been the ideology from day one when I took over as the head coach, from Sri Lanka till now. Batting orders are very overrated, except the openers, obviously. The two openers are permanent, the rest shuffles, because it's not the amount of runs that matter in T20 cricket,” said Gambhir.
Flexibility by design
Under Gambhir, India have developed a more dynamic, attacking style of play. The head coach made it clear that this is part of a deliberate plan, not mere experimentation.
“That's the reason from day one, it has been a fluid batting order, and that is how we want to play the game. We don't want to play thinking about averages, strike rates, and all that stuff. It's about how much impact a person can create in what situation,” he added.
Since Gautam Gambhir took charge as head coach and Suryakumar Yadav assumed the T20I captaincy, India have been on a remarkable run, sweeping every bilateral series and lifting the Asia Cup in the process.
