India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Sunday said he is only answerable to the people present in the dressing room and dedicated India’s T20 World Cup title win to VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.
India won the T20 World Cup by defeating New Zealand by 96 runs. The Indian team became the first team to win the T20 World Cup thrice (2007, 2024 and 2026).
Gambhir said in the press conference after the match, “My responsibility is not to the people on social media. My responsibility is for those 30 people who are in the change room.” He said, ”The coach is made up of the team. The players made me the coach I am.
He further said, “I dedicate this trophy to Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.” To Rahul Bhai for bringing the Indian team to this stage and to Laxman for creating a pipeline of players in the COE.
Gambhir also thanked chief selector Ajit Agarkar and former BCCI secretary and current ICC president Jay Shah. He said, “Ajit Agarkar faced a lot of criticism and worked with complete honesty. Jai Bhai called me during the worst phase of my tenure.
Praising captain Suryakumar Yadav, Gambhir said, “Surya made my work easy.” He is like a fatherly captain. The bigger goal is to win trophies, not achievements. We celebrated achievements for many years. I would urge you to stop celebrating personal achievements.
Suryakumar said, “I played for four years (for KKR) under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir.” There was never any argument between us because the common goal was for the team to win. Our friendship happened like this. He took two steps and I took two steps.
He said, “I would not say that this is India’s white ball era. Had this been the case, we would not have lost two of the last three ODI series. I chose the team on trust, not on expectation.
