Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir speaks during the event ‘Rise to Leadership with Gautam Gambhir’, in Kolkata, Friday, June 21, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Gautam Gambhir remained mum on queries about him becoming the next India head coach, saying on Friday that he doesn’t ‘see that far ahead.’
“I don’t see that far ahead. You are grilling me, asking me all tough questions. It is difficult to answer right now. All I can say is that I’m happy being here, just finished a brilliant journey (and) let’s enjoy that. I’m in a very happy space right now,” Gambhir said at an Indian Chambers of Commerce event.
The 42-year-old recently played a crucial role in KKR’s third title win in the IPL as team mentor and has appeared in an interview with the The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Cricket Advisory Committee for the Indian team coaching gig.
The term of current India coach Rahul Dravid ends after the ongoing T20 World Cup in USA and West Indies. The BCCI had invited applications for the post in mid-May and the deadline was May 27, the day after the IPL final.
In the event on Friday, Gambhir also touched upon the fact that did not have any disappointment for not being able to captain India for a long run.
“I have always thought about performing for the fans, and that has been my thought since the last year of my training career. In the middle, I got this honour of captaining India for six games. I tried doing it to the best of my ability,” he said.
“Otherwise, I have no regrets whatsoever because my job was not to captain the series. My job was to make my country win, and whichever team I play for, make that team win,” he added.
He does have one regret though.
“I wish I had finished that game,” he said referring to the 2011 World Cup final in which then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored the winning runs.
“It was my job to finish the game, rather than leaving someone to finish the game. If I had to turn back the clock, I would go back there and score the last run, irrespective of how many runs I scored,” added the left-hander, who scored 97 runs in that epic clash against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium.
(With Agency inputs)
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