India vs England 2016: Gautam Gambhir The Only Player To Miss India’s Victory Celebration In Chennai
Dec 21, 2016 at 11:35 PM
If there is one thing that has set apart Virat Kohli as a captain is his willingness to give equal importance to each and every member of the team. Time and again, he has stressed the fact that team effort has been the prime reason behind the Test team’s phenomenal success in the last one year or so.
The players once again performed collectively which helped Kohli to lead his team to a historic 4-0 win over England in the recently-concluded series. Not surprisingly, the India Test captain was very proud of his team.
Speaking after registering a miraculous win in the Chennai Test, Kohli had said: “Very proud. Toss and pitches were out of the equation. We were up against big totals and we won by an innings. Doesn’t happen too often in Tests. We work hard everyday and believe in us. We don’t care about what’s happening outside; what matters is what each one of us thinks about the other. There’s lot of respect and friendship in that dressing room and it’s evident on the field. Nobody is playing for himself. Every time we were put under the pump, we have tightened up on giving away wickets at crucial time, especially after intervals. We have improved on that.
“The lower order has deflated the opposition, scoring 200+ three times, and their hard work in the nets showed. Our pace was quicker than theirs, even the consistency was better, and it was very proud moment for me as an Indian captain, seeing the fast bowlers stepping it on. Kudos to the hard work they have put in in the past few months,” he added.
And so it was not surprising to see all the players who missed the fifth Test due to injury but were part of the team at some point of time in the series joining the team in the celebrations.
However, one notable absentee was Gautam Gambhir who played the series opener in Rajkot. He was dropped from the squad after failing to perform well in the Test but everyone was expecting him to join the celebrations. Even Hardik Pandya, who did not play a single Test, was present in Chennai. Speculations are rife that the southpaw gave the celebration a miss because of the notice that he received from the BCCI for being the brand ambassador of a private cricket league named, the Indian Junior Premier League (IJPL).
However, Gambhir made sure to congratulate the team after their brilliant win over England. He tweeted:“Prolific with the bat, lethal with the ball and ruthless in the field. Deservedly number 1 in the world, congratulations India!”
Prolific with the bat, lethal with the ball and ruthless in the field. Deservedly number 1 in the world, congratulations India! #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/Mx42PktIim
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) December 20, 2016