India coach Gautam Gambhir delivered a powerful speech in the dressing room after India ended their England tour on a high, winning the fifth Test in Oval with 6 runs to draw the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series 2-2 on Monday, August 4.
The thrilling 6-run win over England at Oval saved India from a third consecutive Test series defeat under Gambhir’s coaching tenure. After India’s impressive performance in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, Gambhir expressed confidence in his team’s ability to dominate red-ball cricket.
In a dressing room BTS video shared by the BCCI, the India coach can be seen emphasising that players may come and go but the team’s culture remains constant.
Notably, this was India’s first Test series after retirements of senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin and a relatively young team produced outstanding performance in challenging English conditions.
“The way this series has panned out 2-2 is an outstanding result, congratulations to all. So remember, we will keep getting better, we will keep working hard, we will keep improving our areas – because if we keep doing that, we can dominate Test cricket for a very long period. People will come & go, but the culture of the dressing room should always be like that people want to be part of this culture, that is what we want to create,” said Gambhir.
“Good luck, enjoy yourself. You can take a couple of days off, and you deserve every bit of it. What you guys have achieved, you deserve every bit of it. Congratulations,” he added.
In the same dressing room video, veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was seen handing the Impact Player of the Series medal to Washington Sundar for his outstanding performance on the tour. Sundar finished the England series with 284 runs, including an unbeaten 101 match-saving knock at Old Trafford in Manchester.
“Obviously, it is a great blessing to be playing four games on the trot in a place like England. Always wanted to do really well here. And as a team, just the way we went about, every single day was amazing. The energy we created especially from a fielding perspective, the energy we created, we were always there for each other. Thank you so much for everything,” said Sundar after receiving his medal.
After the gruelling 25 days of Test cricket, Team India will get a well-deserved break, with no Test or limited-over matches scheduled until the Asia Cup 2025, which starts in September.