NEW DELHI: Out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir is determined to fight his way back into the national team through hardwork, saying that he doesn’t want to take the “selfish” route by scoring heavily on flat tracks to stage his comeback.
“I have never played cricket for selfish reasons like scoring 800-900 runs on flat tracks to make a comeback. It’s up to an individual and I am not one of those guys who would back out from competition.
Delhi team needed outright wins and I insisted on playing on green top at the Roshanara rather than on a flat track. Had I played on a flat track, I could have got close to 900 runs. I have never ever played cricket that way with such selfish motives,” Gambhir said on Saturday.
The 31-year-old scored 578 runs in the Ranji Trophy this season with a top score of 153 at the Roshanara on a green top against Haryana just before the Test squad to South Africa was announced.
With the team for New Zealand also announced, Gambhir has taken the decision to chin-up and is ready to fight his way back.
“It’s a reality that I am not in the team to New Zealand. I wish all the 16-17 guys best of luck for the tour. As I have maintained that I don’t play for comebacks, I play the game because I still have that hunger to perform.
I want to be part of the team that wins a Test series in England and Australia. This is what drives me on as in my 54 Tests, we only won a series in New Zealand and drew in South Africa,” Gambhir said.
He also didn’t wish to comment on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s take that he is the No 3 opener in the country now.
“Frankly, I don’t know whether I am 1, 2, 3 or last. I know that my job is to score runs and I will continue to do that. Someone asked me what exactly is a finished product, I said that no one ever is a finished product. We strive to improve everyday,” Gambhir said.
“I am an intense person on the field. I always want to win as it matters to me a lot.” (PTI)
