'He was a player who was willing to fight for the team, he has passed that on to us as coach' - Shardul Thakur bats for Gautam Gambhir amid criticism

Shardul Thakur

India's head coach Gautam Gambhir has been at the forefront of massive criticism, especially for the Asian giants' performances in red-ball cricket during his tenure. After a clean sweep of Bangladesh, India have lost back-to-back series against New Zealand at home and Australia Down Under. Recently, they drew the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2-2 against an imperfect England side.

However, India have had their problems, with retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma just ahead of the England tour. These decisions meant that India had to appoint a new captain and young Shubman Gill took over the reins. India's transition began during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, and Gambhir deserves some credit for the way he backed the youngsters in the side.

Shardul Thakur, who was a part of the tour and played a couple of Tests, lauded Gambhir for injecting a lot of belief in the side. The Mumbai all-rounder, who will lead West Zone in the upcoming Duleep Trophy, said that Gambhir was known for his fighting spirit during his playing days and that is how he wants the current Indian players to operate.

“Yes, we have always seen him as a player who is willing to fight for the team, and even during the huddles, he transferred that energy into us as the one that he brought into the field during his playing days,” Thakur said in an interview with Revsportz.

“He is an achiever who has won trophies for the nation and the state. And he brings all those experiences and motivations into the team. Criticism will come and go, but as a team, winning matters, and I believe we are heading in the right direction when it comes to that,” he added.

India's upcoming assignment is the Asia Cup, which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in September. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee are reportedly set to pick the squad for the continental tournament on Tuesday, August 19.