On Wednesday night, Gautam Gambhir was waiting to cheer the Germans in their World Cup semifinal against Spain. On Friday, last season’s Test cricketer of the year and India’s top scorer at last month’s Asia Cup, leaves with the team for Colombo and the start of a long, uninterrupted season for India. Here, he takes time off to talk cricket.
The Asia Cup must've been a relief after the last few months and being out of form?
Yes but it's difficult to maintain the momentum I had for over a year and something had to give. I would have liked to have not had a dip in form, but these things happen, happen to any player. It was just unfortunate that it happened during the Tweny20 World Cup.
Your critics went back to an old issue --- your playing against the short-pitched delivery, saying you had been found out by the opposition…
It's unfortunate that in India, you tend to be judged on your performance in Twenty20 cricket. It's quite ridiculous. In the T20 World Cup, if someone bowled short, you had no choice but to take them on. In Tests or ODIs, you have time duck, to think, out-think the opposition, play your game. I've always maintained that people should judge form on the basis of performances in Tests and ODIs, not T20s.
On the World T20, where did it all go wrong? Fatigue?
I'm not going to make any excuses. We didn't click as a team, it's as simple as that. And though some individuals were picked out to take the slack, that wasn't fair, the loss was our collective responsibility and collective failure. You win together and you lose together. There was no lack of commitment or effort on the part of anyone in the team. I'd also like to point out that more or less the same team that was being called 'divided' and said to be 'full of differences' a couple of months ago, won the Asia Cup. That's cricket.
On the World T20, where did it all go wrong? Fatigue?
I'm not going to make any excuses. We didn't click as a team, it's as simple as that. And though some individuals were picked out to take the slack, that wasn't fair, the loss was our collective responsibility and collective failure. You win together and you lose together. There was no lack of commitment or effort on the part of anyone in the team. I'd also like to point out that more or less the same team that was being called 'divided' and said to be 'full of differences' a couple of months ago, won the Asia Cup. That's cricket.
But the rest, the break from cricket, did help…
Yes, definitely. The break was good, very good. Even with the best intent, when you're on the road for months on end, playing game after game in different formats, traveling without a break, it can be mental torture. So the break that some of us got after the World T20 was very important. It really helped me come back refreshed, sharper, hungry for runs. I moved better during the Asia Cup last month, felt better, played better.
It's another long season from now till the World Cup --- Lanka, the tri-series, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.
(Laughs) It's not going to be easy! But that's international cricket for you, so we'll take the breaks where we get them. From now on though, till the World Cup, it's all focus.
You think India can win the World Cup?
Honestly, that's a tough one to predict. But we have the strength and the ability. We have tremendous firepower in the batting department and the bowling. We're playing in the subcontinent, at home. So yes, we have what it takes.
What would you say are Dhoni's strengths as skipper?
I'm a strong believer in the saying that a captain is only as good as his side. I've been captain of the Daredevils and Delhi and found that if you give your players the confidence that you believe in them, they'll deliver for you. Dhoni, I think, has led the side well, taken decisions that ultimately went in his favour but it's not the captain who wins the games, it's the team.
Back on you, are you planning on just batting or also working on your bowling?
I am looking at working on my bowling too. If you're there as a pure batsman, then if you get out cheaply, the game's over for you. But if you can also bowl five-six overs in an ODI, pick up a couple of wickets, help the team, it's good. As a leg-spinner then, you give the team some options and for a skipper, that always helps.
Like Sehwag does… Was it tough not having him around?
It did play on my mind, his not being there. We know each others' games and needs so well and it's always great fun batting to open with Sehwag. It also takes time to understand someone else's batting and change your role to adapt to theirs and there's not always that time.
There was a time when criticism upset you, made you insecure. How did this round of criticism feel?
Better! One of the things I have learnt in the last couple of years is that people don't really see the big picture, just live in the moment. I had one bad tournament, the T20 World Cup and that made people forget the two years before. Suddenly, they said I couldn't face short-pitched bowling, and conveniently forgot that if I couldn't, I wouldn't have scored international runs over two years. But I've learnt to ignore most of what is said. What matters to me is my team, my team-mates, what they say and think and feel. I give my 100 per cent and they know that.