Cricket is a team game, credit should not go to only few: Gautam Gambhir

For Gautam Gambhir, the essence of team sport is acknowledgement of every contribution big or small, which according to him was missing in Indian cricket for long.

Had Shivam Dube not smashed a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over, no one would have spoken about Sanju Samson's match-winning 97 against West Indies on Sunday, said the Indian head coach.

Gambhir asserted that till he is the coach, every contributions will get an honourable mention.

"Glad you're talking about every contribution because for many years, we've only spoken about certain contributions. This is a team sport, and this will always remain a team sport," Gambhir said, speaking in his inimitable style although without referring to certain contributions.

"For me, Shivam's two boundaries are as important as Sanju's 97 because if he hadn't hit those two boundaries, you won't even spoken about it (97-run knock).

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"The big contribution makes headlines. The small contribution, the contribution that can help the team win, cross that line, are very important."  Gambhir has underlined his team philosophy and till he is around there won't be any special contribution.

"And that's why I say that this is going to be the philosophy going forward till I am there."  My coaching mantra is based on instinct not data  While most coaches across the globe would tell you that data has huge role to play in T20 cricket, Gambhir believes in old school methodology of relying on gut feel.

"I don't believe in data, honestly. I've never seen the data. I don't even know what data is all about. I absolutely do not believe in it, because I feel it's more about instinct," Gambhir said but his comment was surprising since the team relies much on data analyst Hari Prasad.

"T20 cricket is about instinct and backing your instinct as well. Whatever knowledge I have about the game and T20 format, I try and probably give it to the captain, try and help him out as much as I can.

"But ultimately, it's the captain that takes the final call. But data and all, I don't believe honestly, because it's very over-rated. For me, I think we are very fortunate that we've got world-class players.

"We've got guys who we can use differently, because not many teams have that luxury. Imagine someone like Jaspreet (Bumrah) or Arshdeep or even Varun, we can use them at any phase of the game.

"And from the batting point of view, you've got power. That is something which is very important. When you've got power, you're never away from the chase. You're never out of the game as well."  On the semi-final against England, Gambhir termed Harry Brook's side as "world class" and Wankhede as a very tough venue.

"They (England) are a world-class team, they're a quality team, they've got a lot of quality players as well and we all know that Wankhede is a tough venue.

"Hopefully, we can turn up and see that we have another opportunity to do something special for the team, for the country and hopefully we play a best game as well. That is going to be very important," Gambhir said.

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