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In a video going viral on the internet, Gambhir was asked which Indian player from the current team can bat for 11 hours to defend a Test match, and in reply, India’s head coach said, “All the top 7.”
Gautam Gambhir names Indian players that can bat 11 hours to defend a Test match. (Picture Credit: Screengrab)
After suffering a humiliating 0-3 defeat at home in a three-match Test series against New Zealand, the Indian men’s cricket team has landed in Australia to take part in a five-match Test series. The 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is set to start on November 22 in Perth, and the next four matches are scheduled to take place in Adelaide (December 6-10), Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7, 2015).
India needs to win at least four of the five Tests against Australia to finish in the top two of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle and qualify for the WTC 2025 final at Lord’s next year. Ahead of the start of the much-awaited Test series between India and Australia, an interview of India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir with Jio Cinema is going viral on the internet in which, when asked, “Which player in this Indian team can bat for 11 hours to defend a Test match?” he said, “All the top seven.”
India’s top-seven batters in the Tests at present times comprise of captain Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan.
In the last Test series India played against New Zealand, apart from Pant, others failed to perform as per expectations, and the performance of senior players like Virat, Rohit, and Rahul was heavily criticised by fans and experts of the game.
In the three matches against the Black Caps, Rohit could only manage to score 91 runs, whereas Kohli amassed a total of 93 runs in six innings. Rahul played only in the first Test at M Chinnaswamy Stadium but got out after making 0 and 12 runs.
The 32-year-old right-handed batter from Karnataka travelled to Australia ahead of his other teammates and played in the second unofficial Test for India A against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, he failed to do justice with his reputation in that match as well and got out after making 4 and 10 runs.
During the Q20s, Gambhir was also asked “which current player in the Indian team can play Morne Morkel in his prime,” and in reply he said, “Top 6 batters.”
