'It (the decision to pick Nitish ahead of Shardul) is also about moving forward and I feel that this is the best set of players that we have selected to do the job for the country.'
Like the billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Gautam Gambhir, the tenacious former opener-turned-coach, also seems to be governed by instincts while picking unheralded players and turning them into match-winners, points out Vishal Menon.
Gautam Gambhir's appointment will be a mere formality as he is only one to have applied for the coach's post.
Rishabh Pant's place in the playing eleven is far from guaranteed, while Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy are locked in a tight contest for the additional all-rounder's slot as India confront several selection dilemmas ahead of the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi.
The conversation between the two made for an interesting watch as they spoke about the importance of Test cricket, staying in the zone and talking of the knocks one enjoyed of the other.
Ashwin has had the opportunity to play under the wing of both stars. He pointed out that there isn't a huge gap between Gambhir and Dravid's approach or the passion that the duo shares for Indian cricket.
Tilak Varma, India's match-winner in the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, received a grand welcome on his return to Hyderabad on Tuesday.
The Bellerive Oval is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size, hence hitting the right lengths would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.
Rishabh Pant has "no injury concerns" and is set to keep wickets for India against New Zealand starting in Pune on Thursday, said head coach Gautam Gam
Preparation of a turning pitch for the Mumbai Test, resting Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir's coaching style were discussed threadbare.
'We knew it won't be easy to hit how much you may connect. Plan was to bowl smartly and when a batter is set, force him to hit on the bigger sides than small sides.'
Ravichandran Ashwin exposed India batters' lack of quality to battle ball tweakers by claiming that if legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar or past domestic heroes Amol Muzumdar, the India women's team head coach and Mithun Manhas had played against spinners on such a track, the Test would have gone to four days, unlike India's harrowing 30-run defeat against South Africa at Eden Gardens.
Gambhir had taken charge of the team in July and the team will be playing its first Test in his tenure.
Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill rewrote the record books on Sunday, putting together a blistering 105-run stand-the best-ever opening partnership for India against Pakistan in T20Is.
The Delhi-based Gambhir will skip India's two-day pink ball warm-up game against Prime Minister's in Canberra starting November 30.
'That's the best bit of coaching I had.'
Gambhir, who took over from Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup, has shared the Indian dressing room with the likes of Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin in the not-so-distant past.
Although Shubman Gill's return to the T20 side has cast a shadow over Sanju Samson's place in the playing XI for the Asia Cup in the UAE, the hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter will be counting on head coach Gautam Gambhir, who has often spoken highly of his positive attitude.
Gambhir congratulated Bangladesh on their two-match Test series win against Pakistan. He praised Najmul Hossain Shanto's side, calling them a quality team.
With no ODI series in Australia in the next two years, it is impossible to think that the legendary duo will again be seen Down Under in India blues.
Gambhir, who recently stepped down as KKR's coach after leading them to their first title in a decade, posted an emotional farewell message.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir threw his weight behind under-fire batter K L Rahul ahead of the second Test against New Zealand, starting in Pune from Thursday.
With the scars of last year's home series whitewash against New Zealand still raw, preparing rank turners may invite risk.
India's Test No 3 Sai Sudharsan said his primary aim is to win matches for the team rather than focusing on individual goals.
Gautam Gambhir has enlisted Kolkata Knight Riders Assistant Coach Abhishek Nayar's expertise for the role of assistant coach with Team India.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K L Rahul perished early as India fumbled in the chase of a mammoth 549-run target on Day 4 of the second Test.
Interestingly, former Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma, who led India to winning the T20 World Cup on June 29, was away at Wimbledon on Friday, missing the event.
After taking a dig at former India skipper Rohit Sharma on his fitness, Congress leader Shama Mohamed, on Wednesday, again sparked controversy, drawing a religious angle to cricketer Sarfaraz Khan's omission from the India and India A squads announced recently by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
'Gautam Gambhir and Morne Morkel will need to provide Rohit with more inputs like whether to bowl bouncers or bowl round the wicket or whether we are allowing the game to drift.'
K L Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran will open the batting for India if captain Rohit Sharma is not available for the first Test against Australia in Perth, said head coach Gautam Gambhir.
'For him, win or defeat never mattered, he always told us to give our best and never worry about the results.'
'What solution can Gambhir or Nayar possibly give, apart from telling him to not play those deliveries?'
'I've never seen anything like it in my life.'
This happened following India's practice session that saw both India's senior batters hit the nets at the Optus Stadium.
The others to arrive after a delayed flight were K L Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy along with some members of the support staff.
Since making a comeback to the T20 team for the Asia Cup, Shubman Gill has struggled to tally just 184 runs in 10 innings.
Ashwin has clarified that his decision to retire from the game was a personal call
The problem with Surya has been his limited range of strokes and always trying to play behind the square using the pace and bounce of the deliveries
Cricketer-turned-MP Gautam Gambhir shared a heartwarming picture featuring wife Natasha Jain and their daughters Aazeen and Anaiza against a snowy backdrop in Gstaad, Switzerland, simply captioned, 'Snow and Us'.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir put up a stout defence of under-pressure skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli ahead of tour of Australia.
