India vs Australia: File photo of Gautam Gambhir© AFP
The Indian cricket team dressing room is a place where big egos along with big names exist. During the recent India vs Australia series, there were several rumours of a dressing room rift, with an Indian Express report claiming a certain ‘Mr. Fix-It’ projecting himself as a suitable candidate for being the interim captain. However, after that report, India coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma put up an united front and said that it’s not their job to react to outside noise.
The Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 is over and the above-mentioned news publication has come up with another story involving Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni. The story goes back to India’s 2012 Australia Tour. A series of claims and counter-claims by MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag had given the impression among the travelling media that all was not well in the dressing room. Then, the Indian manager organised a ‘chai samosa party’.
After the incident came to light an Indian star told the publication: “Heard you guys won’t be covering the rift anymore. Samosa mein bik gaye (sold out for a samosa)?!”
Meanwhile, during the BGT, asserting that “debates” in the dressing room should not come out in public domain, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had said he has had some “honest” conversations with his players as only performance can help them stay in the set-up.
Amid reports of unrest in the dressing room, Gambhir sought to douse the fire by declaring that they were “just reports, not truth”. “Debates between coach and player should remain in dressing room. Stern words. They were just reports not truth,” Gambhir said.
“Indian cricket will be in safe hands till honest people stay in the dressing room. Only thing that keeps you in the dressing room is performance. There were honest words and honesty is important,” he added.
“There is only one tendency and there is only one discussion – it’s the team first ideology that matters. You need to play what the team needs. You can still play your natural game in a team sport – but if the team needs you – you need to play in a certain way,” the head coach said.
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