Gautam Gambhir started his Team India coaching tenure with a sensational 3-0 T20I series win over Sri Lanka. Gambhir joined the Indian team with a big reputation after guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title in his first season with the franchise as a mentor. The former Indian cricketer, who is known for his intense attitude, looked calm and composed on his first assignment as head coach.
Gambhir grabbed the limelight in IPL 2024 with his out-of-the-box ideas, like promoting Sunil Narine to the opening slot, which he also did during his time as KKR captain. The gamble pulled off well for the franchise. It seems like Gambhir has brought a similar tactical board to the Indian team. During the third T20I between India and Sri Lanka, when the match was slipping away from the visitors' reach, skipper Suryakumar Yadav did something that almost nobody had predicted. He gave the 19th over to Rinku Singh, who was yet to bowl his first ball in T20Is. The young batter kept his calm in the new role and bowled a sensational over with two wickets for just three runs and pulled India back into the game.
With six runs required off the last over, everyone was expecting the team's senior pacer Mohammad Siraj, to return to attack, but Surya made another bold move and took the onus on himself to bowl the tough six balls. Surya had not bowled a single ball in T20Is before Tuesday, but he was confident he could pull off something brilliant, and he did. The Indian skipper claimed a couple of wickets and gave five runs off his over, and the match was pushed to the super over. India snatched the win from the jaws of defeat with a win in Super Over, where Surya easily steered India to win with a boundary on the first ball of the over while chasing three runs. Meanwhile, when all the drama was unfolding in the middle, Gambhir had a smile on his face and was impressed with the team's spirited show and out-of-the-box ideas to pull off a sensational win.
{{/usCountry}}With six runs required off the last over, everyone was expecting the team's senior pacer Mohammad Siraj, to return to attack, but Surya made another bold move and took the onus on himself to bowl the tough six balls. Surya had not bowled a single ball in T20Is before Tuesday, but he was confident he could pull off something brilliant, and he did. The Indian skipper claimed a couple of wickets and gave five runs off his over, and the match was pushed to the super over. India snatched the win from the jaws of defeat with a win in Super Over, where Surya easily steered India to win with a boundary on the first ball of the over while chasing three runs. Meanwhile, when all the drama was unfolding in the middle, Gambhir had a smile on his face and was impressed with the team's spirited show and out-of-the-box ideas to pull off a sensational win.
{{/usCountry}}The fans on social media credited coach Gambhir for India's master plan of choosing Rinku and Suryakumar to bowl the last two overs while defending a moderate target.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka suffered another batting collapse in this series, they fell like a pack of cards after they needed 30 off the last 30 balls with nine wickets in hand.
The two teams will now play three ODI matches as India await the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli in the 50-over series starting August 2.