Shubman Gill will be coming in for Rohit and bat at his usual No. 3 position, whereas KL Rahul will return to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rishabh Pant will be retaining his place in the team and Prasidh Krishna is set to come in for the injured Akash Deep.
Gambhir dodges question in press conference
The feisty Gambhir was on full view when an Australian reporter threw a query on why Rohit had not showed up for the interaction as is the “tradition”.
“Can you confirm the playing eleven?” he asked.
The response was vague when it came to addressing the question on his final XI.
“Everything is fine with Rohit and I don’t think there is anything traditional here. The head coach is here and that should be good enough,” he said.
“We will decide on the playing XI after looking at the pitch,” he added.
When the same question was repeated, he was more terse.
“The answer remains the same.” So, what are the conversations that he has had with Rohit and Virat Kohli, whose dismissals outside the off-stump continue to hurt the team.
“There’s only one conversation and that’s how to win matches for India. We all know how important that is,” he said.
However, Gambhir said that he doesn’t appreciate dressing room debates get space in public discourse.
“Debates between coaches and players should be confined between them. This sport is known for results but conversations between individuals should stay inside dressing room,” he asserted.
(With PTI inputs)
First Published: Jan 2, 2025 3:50 PM IST
