Ind vs Afg – Gautam Gambhir throws his weight behind ICC’s red-ball-pink-ball switch

“I love that because I’ve always believed that if there’s an opportunity to get a result, you should always have that opportunity,” Gambhir said on the eve of India’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in New Chandigarh. “Imagine if you are playing the last Test match before the World Test Championship final and you have the chance to win that Test match to qualify, and because of bad light, it’s not happening. So I’m all for it.”

For the swap to happen, though, both captains needed to agree.

“If there’s an opportunity to get the result, if both teams agree to it… I know it could be a little unfair and difficult for the players, but imagine working hard for two years and the last Test match before the World Test Championship final, if you don’t play five days because of bad light, how unfair that could be. So I think it’s a proactive move, it’s a positive move, and, hopefully, the teams will start taking it in a positive way.”

In their most recent Test series, against South Africa at home, India were whitewashed 2-0. They are currently sixth on the WTC table with 48.15% points from nine games. But Gambhir was “very optimistic” of making the final.

“Till you have the opportunity to qualify for the World Test Championship final,” he said, “you are always optimistic because we know the kind of quality we have and the kind of talent we have. I don’t think there is any reason not to believe that we cannot win the World Test Championship and that is what not only we but everyone sitting in the dressing room believes.

“Yes, we can have one-odd bad series here and there but we know the kind of talent and how much hunger we have in the dressing room.”

Gambhir: ‘Sai Sudharsan hasn’t got a fair chance’

While the Afghanistan Test is not part of the WTC cycle, it remains a key fixture between now and August when India travel to Sri Lanka for two Tests. Then in November, they will play another two in New Zealand.

India are looking to fill the No. 3 position after Shubman Gill moved to No. 4 following Virat Kohli’s Test retirement. Their options for this match are B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal. Though Padikkal had a good Ranji Trophy season, scoring 543 runs at an average of 60.33, Gambhir made it clear that Sai Sudharsan deserved more opportunities. He has played six games so far, scoring 302 runs at an average of 27.45.

“Honestly, Sai hasn’t got a fair chance,” Gambhir said. “He has only played a handful of Test matches and he started his Test career in England, which we all know is not the easiest place [to bat in]. He has had a phenomenal run in the IPL as well and we have got to give him a fair chance.”

When asked if there was a temptation to play Padikkal given his red-ball form, Gambhir said he would get his chance when the time was right.

“You can only pick XI, unfortunately. Sometimes you just have to wait for your opportunity. I’ve always believed that guys who we are going to play, we give them a fair run,” he said. “And again, Sai is not in bad form either. He has got, what, 700 [722] runs in IPL. If judging players by only four or five Test matches is good enough, then I feel that we will never be able to build something.

“So, hopefully, he [Padikkal] will get his chance. Whenever his time comes, we’ll give him a fair run as well. It’s not about giving someone five Test matches and someone else one Test match. If we give someone a fair run, we’ll give the other guy whenever he gets the opportunity comes a fair run as well. But, at the moment, I think we’ve got to give Sai a fair run. He’s a world-class player and I’m sure he’ll come good.”

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