India head coach Gautam Gambhir said he remains hopeful that the series defeat to New Zealand would push his players to get better.
Everyone has a responsibility. I cannot say just the batters have let us down,” Gambhir told reporters on Thursday ahead of the third Test, which starts on November 1 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
This was Gambhir’s second Test series in charge since being named head coach, and defeat is ‘hurting’ the two-time World Cup winner.
He, though, feels that the result could propel his players to do better in the future.
“I am not going to sugarcoat that it is hurting,” Gambhir said. “It should hurt, and that will make us better. What is wrong with being in this position?
I am sure this will push the youngsters to be better cricketers. If we have results like Kanpur, we might as well have results like this and keep moving forward.”
One of the highlights of India’s disappointing show was the inability of their batters to drop anchor and build innings. However, Gambhir feels it’s more about how a team approaches a session.
Test cricket should be played like Test cricket. If we have to get 400 runs inside a day’s play, we should be able to get it. For me, it is about playing the sessions as well. If we play 4.5 sessions, we will have a lot of runs on board,” he said.
Gambhir refused to comment on the Wankhede pitch, with reports claiming that they have asked for a rank-turner. “It is just a good wicket. It is very difficult for anyone to judge before both teams have batted on it,” he said.
