Gautam Gambhir Shuts Down Critics, Teases Major Change Ahead of T20 World Cup: 'It's The Impact That Matters'

India stamped their authority with a dominating T20I series win over Australia under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav. The Men In Blue warmed up in style in their defence of the T20 World Cup title.

Gautam Gambhir Opened Up On Team Selection

The reigning world champions defeated Australia 2-1 in a five-match series, but a number of Gautam Gambhir's decisions faced severe scrutiny. Harshit Rana's inclusion in the first two T20Is raised questions, and it was Arshdeep Singh who had an instant impact following his return to the team.

India's one of the best in the shortest format, Sanju Samson, was involved in just one match in the entire series. But ahead of the first Test match against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Gambhir insisted it is very tough to let deserving players know of the decision not to include them in the team.

In a video posted by BCCI, he said, "That is the toughest part for me as a coach, and that is the toughest job I have. Sometimes, when I know there is so much quality sitting on the bench, and I know everyone deserves to be part of the playing XI, but ultimately, you can only pick 11, thinking about what is the best combination to do the job on that particular day.

"But for me, the most important thing is the conversation and the communication as well. The communication needs to be very clear, very honest. Sometimes, obviously, those are tough conversations to have. If you tell someone that he is not playing, it is probably the toughest conversation for both the coach and the player, because I know the player would be upset when he deserves to be part of the playing XI."

Abhishek Sharma Joined Elite Club In T20I Cricket

India have not lost their last eight T20I series and have gone on to lift the Asia Cup title, which was played in the shortest format. Abhishek Sharma showed his batting prowess again and became the fastest player to register 1000 runs in terms of balls faced in T20I cricket. His record came in just 528 balls, faster than Suryakumar Yadav's early record of 573 balls.

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He also joined Virat Kohli to become the second-fastest batter to register 1000 runs in terms of innings.

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