‘Suddenly you forget…’: Gautam Gambhir highlights India’s need to prioritize getting better in red-ball cricket

Gautam Gambhir didn’t blame any individual for the debilitating 408-run defeat against South Africa in the second Test, but mentioned that one should always remember that there is always scope for improvement in red-ball game. Gambhir’s par-for-the course fiery post-match press conference had one anomaly though — the head coach was a bundle of contradictions through and through those 15 odd minutes.

Gautam Gambhir spoke about playing white-ball cricket without a doubt, but highlighted keeping red ball cricket as a priority while citing examples of playing domestic cricket when a player is free as a matter of policy by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“Come the white ball formats, if you get runs in white ball formats, suddenly you forget about what you have done in red ball cricket. That should never happen. You know, first and foremost, people who do well in white ball cricket should not forget what they’ve done in red ball cricket. Very easily, media, us, fans, everyone stops forgetting about what they’ve done in Test cricket,” he said, his both statements in contrast to each other.

“And I don’t want to forget it. To be honest, we go forward, we’ve got a lot of white ball cricket. If someone gets a 40 ball 50 or 80 ball 100, the reality is that we still need to keep getting better in red ball cricket,” he said in another contradictory remark.