Won’t hold back players from pushing limits: Gambhir

Bengaluru, Oct 14: India head coach Gautam Gambhir said Monday that he will not stop his batters from pursuing a “high risk, high reward” approach in Test cricket even if it means that the side gets bundled out for 100 on some days.
India dished out their own version of ‘Bazball’ while chasing a victory in the recent Kanpur Test against Bangladesh after more than two days were lost to rain. The team defeated the visitors by seven wickets.
“Why do we need to hold on to people? If they can play the natural game, if they can get 400-500 runs in a day, why not? We will play it that way – high risk, high reward, high risk, high failure,” Gambhir told reporters.
“There will be days when we’ll get bundled out for 100 and we’ll take it up then. But we’ll continue to back our players to go out there and play high risk cricket. That’s how we want to keep the game going forward and get the results in whatever situation we are in,” he added.
However, Gambhir quickly dispelled the notion of playing the game with blinkers, saying “adaptability” will also remain important for his side. “I had said in Chennai that we want to be a team that can make 400 runs in a day and bat for two days to draw. That’s called growth.
“That’s called adaptability and that’s called Test cricket. If you play the same way, then it’s not growth,” he explained.
Gambhir was confident in his wards’ ability to tame any situation without sacrificing the team’s motto of pushing the limits. (PTI)