'We don't want to fear losing a game of cricket' - Gautam Gambhir on Indian team's approach in T20Is

The Indian team has continued their dominance in T20Is after defeating England 4-1 in the five-match series. The last match of the series was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where the hosts thrashed the Jos Buttler-led side by 150 runs thanks to a brilliant century from Abhishek Sharma who also became the second-fastest Indian centurion in the shortest format. 

There have been a lot of experts and fans who have lauded the performances of the Indian team especially the fearless style of cricket which they displayed in the series. Even India head coach Gautam Gambhir was proud of the way the team played and mentioned that this is the style of cricket they want to play throughout and not fear losing any match. 

“That's the kind of T20 cricket we want to play. We don't want to fear losing a game of cricket, we want to play high-risk, high-reward cricket. And these guys have adopted that ideology, that policy really well. And I think the ideology of this T20 team is based on selflessness and fearlessness. And I think in the last six months, these guys have done it day in, day out,” Gambhir said while speaking to Star Sports. 

“We want to try and get to 250-260 regularly. And in trying to do that, there'll be games where we'll get bundled out for 120-130. And that is what T20 cricket is all about. And unless and until you don't play that high-risk cricket, you won't get those big rewards as well. Most importantly, I think we're on the right track. Come those big tournaments, we want to still continue playing this way and we don't want to fear losing anything,” Gambhir added.

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Gambhir on Varun Chakravarthy and spin-dominating bowling attack in the entire series 

The other star of the series, apart from Abhishek Sharma, was Varun Chakravarthy who was adjudged the Player of the Series taking 14 wickets from the five games. Varun did not have a great outing in the 2021 T20 World Cup and made a great comeback in international cricket in the last few series. Gambhir not only praised Varun for his transformation but also explained the reason for playing only one specialist pacer in the entire series. 

“I think his transformation from IPL to international T20 cricket has been phenomenal, and this series was probably the benchmark as well because England is a high-quality side. They've got some really quality cricketers and the kind of surfaces we have played on - I think they were fantastic batting wickets and the way he's bowled those tough overs has been phenomenal,” Gambhir said. 

“I think having Bishnoi and Varun bowling in tandem was very important, especially in the middle phase, we always knew that the kind of batting line-up England has, they will always come hard at us in the first six overs. But it's that phase between seven and 15. Can we have those two wicket-taking options in the middle? More importantly, we always wanted to have that No. 8 batter, even if he doesn't face too many balls, just because of the kind of cricket we are playing. We want to try and go as hard as possible. Sometimes that cushion of having that No. 8 [batter] allows the top seven to go out there and play even more freely,” Gambhir added.