‘They are incredibly tough’ – Gambhir backs Kohli and Rohit

While Rohit tallied 133 runs in those ten innings with only one score of over 25 to average a mere 13.30, Kohli fared marginally better with 192 runs in as many outings, for an average of 21.33. The fact that India lost a Test series at home for the first time in 12 years, and were whitewashed 3-0 for the first time at home, added to the chatter.

“Not at all,” Gambhir shot back at the press conference when asked if there were any concerns around the form of the duo. “I have got no concerns whatever over Virat and Rohit. I think they are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket, and they will continue to achieve a lot in future as well. I think for me at the most important thing is that they still working really hard, they are still passionate, they still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group as well. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series.”

Since Kohli is 36 and Rohit 37, there have also been raised questions around the inevitable transition of the India Test team. With R Ashwin 38 and Ravindra Jadeja turning 36 next month, Gambhir was asked how he was looking at this phase as the coach, especially since he was part of the earlier cycle of change as a player when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and others retired.

“Look, honestly I’m not even thinking that the team is in transition and that kind of stuff,” Gambhir said. “The only thing that is there at the moment in my mind is we go to Australia to play five Test matches. And I’ve said it that there are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have to achieve a lot of good things in the future as well. So you guys can keep talking about the transition and all that stuff. For me, I think they’re still very hungry and till the time they’re very hungry, I’m sure that they’ve got a lot of fire to achieve a lot of success for the nation.

“And you should never doubt their passion for the country. So I feel that transition or no transition, those things can happen, and those things will keep happening in Indian cricket, but at the moment it’s the five Test matches that are important.”

Looking back, Gambhir accepted India were “outplayed” by New Zealand but were not looking at the WTC scenarios, and banking on the experience in the squad to tackle the challenges of winning a series in Australia.

“I am not going to sit here and defend [the loss against New Zealand]; I think we were outplayed in all the three departments,” Gambhir said. “They were more professional and we accept that. And I think the criticism what we are receiving, we take it with both hands and we keep moving forward, keep getting better every day. Three Test matches before, we had an incredible Test match in Kanpur [against Bangladesh]. So I know that we haven’t played our best cricket, but it doesn’t change that Australia is a new series and we go out there thinking that we’re going to definitely try and win that series.

“The first and foremost challenge is obviously the conditions. In these ten days, if we can get good, proper preparation before the start of the series, I think we are going to be in a really good shape. And we’ve got a lot of experienced players who’ve been to Australia a lot many times. Their experience will come in handy for the young players as well. These ten days are going to be very crucial but come 22nd morning, I think we should be absolutely ready to fire from ball one.”