‘Keep your skills and fitness levels high’: Gambhir’s stern message for India players that will miss Sri Lanka ODIs

With his first assignment as India head coach culminating with a 3-0 T20I series whitewash of Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Gautam Gambhir was content with the outcome but also delivered an important point in his post-game dressing room speech.

India pulled off a stunning Super Over win against the hosts after posting 137 for nine. Batting first, India were subjected to an early collapse before Shubman Gill and Riyan Parag led the side to a fighting total on a dicey surface. However, Sri Lanka suffered another downfall with the bat as they failed to reel in nine runs from the last two overs against part-timers Rinku Singh and captain Suryakumar Yadav himself. India proceeded to dominate the Super Over, conceding only two runs for as many wickets before Suryakumar hit the winning runs off the first ball.

While Gambhir started his speech by lauding Suryakumar’s captaincy and batting, the 42-year-old immediately veered to address the players that will not be part of the three-match ODI leg that will begin in Colombo on Friday.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 💙

Head Coach Gautam Gambhir 🤝 Hardik Pandya address the dressing room as the action now shifts to the ODIs in Colombo #TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @GautamGambhir | @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/PFrTEVzdvd

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 31, 2024

T20I captain Suryakumar, all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravi Bishnoi will not feature in the 50-over format of the tour.

India’s next T20I assignment will be against Bangladesh in early October.

“Some of the guys, who won’t be a part of the 50-over format, will have a longer break. So make sure when you come back for the Bangladesh series, you keep your skills and fitness levels high,” Gambhir said.

“You don’t want to come for that series thinking that, okay, I can just turn up and probably deliver for the team. So, make sure that from the fitness point of view,” the two-time World Cup winner added.

Gambhir’s focus will now move to the 50-overs leg where seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will mark their ODI return for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup final last November.

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