True to his straightforward nature, Gambhir firmly stated that he does not believe in the concept of injury management for players, advocating instead that cricketers should play across all three formats if they are good enough and in form.
“I am a very strong believer in one thing, that if you are good, you should be playing all the three formats. I have never been a big believer of ‘injury management’. You got injured, you go and recover. As simple as it gets. You are playing international cricket, and you are good enough – you ask any of the top players – they want to play all the three formats. They don’t want to be labelled as red-ball bowlers or white-ball bowlers,” Gambhir said.
The former India opener emphasized that injuries are a natural part of a sportsman’s life and should be dealt with by recovery rather than through preemptive management.
“Injuries are part of sportsmen’s life. And if you are playing all the three formats, you get injured, you go back and get recovered but you should be playing all the three formats. I am not a big believer to identify people that okay we are going to keep him for Test matches and we are going to keep him and we are going to manage his injury and workload and stuff,” Gambhir elaborated.
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At 42, Gambhir is the youngest coach to lead Team India, and he underscored the importance of professional players making the most of their careers by playing as much as possible, given the limited span of their professional life.
“Look, professional cricketers, you got a very small span. When you are playing for your country you want to play as much as you can. When you are in very good form, go ahead and play all the three formats,” Gambhir explained.
Gambhir’s no-nonsense approach and emphasis on playing through all formats is expected to bring a new dynamic to the Indian cricket team as they gear up for their series against Sri Lanka.
