Dressing room talks should stay there: Gambhir

Asserting that “debates” in the dressing room should not come out in public domain, India head coach Gautam Gambhir said he has had some “honest” conversations with his players and that the ongoing transition in the team will be all-encompassing.

Amid reports of unrest in the dressing room, the head coach sought to douse the fire by declaring that they were “just reports, not truth”. “There were some honest words is all I can say. Honesty is extremely important if you want to go on and achieve some great things,” Gambhir said.

There were some honest words is all I can say. Honesty is extremely important if you want to go on and achieve some great thing. Debates between coaches and players should be confined between them.

Gautam Gambhir, India coach

The former opener acknowledged that a transition is in progress. “Indian cricket will always be in safe hands as long as there are honest people in that dressing room. Honesty is the most important thing for any transition. And it’s not phasing out senior players and bringing in new players. Ultimately what will keep you in the dressing room is performance,” Gambhir said.

“Earlier when transitions happened it seemed one department is taking the team forward but (in this case) transition will happen in both batting as well as bowling,” he added.

The question of natural game versus situational awareness cropped up and the coach reiterated his stand that the team’s needs come first. “Only one ideology matters and that’s team first. It’s a team sport and you have got to play how team needs you to play. You can play the natural game but in team sport, individuals only contribute,” he said.

When an Australian reporter threw a query on why Rohit had not showed up for the interaction as is the “tradition”, Gambhir said: “Everything is fine with Rohit and I don’t think there is anything traditional here. The head coach is here and that should be good enough.”

When asked about the playing XI, he said: “We will decide on the playing XI after looking at the pitch.” When the same question was repeated, he said: “The answer remains the same.”

Gambhir said that he doesn’t appreciate dressing room debates get space in public discourse. “Debates between coaches and players should be confined between them. This sport is known for

results but conversations between individuals should stay inside dressing room,” he said.