Kolkata, March 2 For Gautam Gambhir, the essence of team sport is acknowledging every contribution, big or small, which, according to him, was missing in Indian cricket for a long time.
"If Shivam Dube hadn't hit a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over, no one would have talked about Sanju Samson's match-winning 97 against West Indies on Sunday," said the Indian head coach.
Gambhir asserted that as long as he is the coach, every contribution will be acknowledged.
"I'm glad you're talking about every contribution because for many years, we've only talked about certain contributions. This is a team sport, and it will always be a team sport," Gambhir said, speaking in his inimitable style, although without specifically mentioning certain contributions.
"For me, Shivam's two boundaries are as important as Sanju's 97 because if he hadn't hit those two boundaries, you wouldn't have even talked about it (the 97-run innings).
"The big contribution makes headlines. The small contribution, the contribution that can help the team win, is very important."
Gambhir has emphasized his team's philosophy, and as long as he is around, there will be no special emphasis on any particular contribution.
"And that's why I say that this will be the philosophy going forward as long as I'm around."
My coaching philosophy is based on instinct, not data.
While most coaches around the world would tell you that data plays a huge role in T20 cricket, Gambhir believes in the old school methodology of relying on gut feel.
"I don't believe in data, honestly. I've never seen the data. I don't even know what data is all about. I absolutely do not believe in it, because I feel it's more about instinct," Gambhir said, but his comment was surprising since the team relies heavily on data analyst Hari Prasad.
"T20 cricket is about instinct and backing your instinct. Whatever knowledge I have about the game and the T20 format, I try to share with the captain, and try to help him as much as I can.
"But ultimately, it's the captain who makes the final decision. But data and all, I don't believe in it, because it's over-rated. For me, we are very fortunate to have world-class players.
"We have players who we can use differently, because not many teams have that luxury. Imagine someone like Jaspreet (Bumrah) or Arshdeep or even Varun; we can use them at any phase of the game.
"And from the batting point of view, you have power. That is something which is very important. When you have power, you're never out of the game. You're never out of the game."
On the semi-final against England, Gambhir termed Harry Brook's side as "world-class" and Wankhede as a very tough venue.
"They (England) are a world-class team, they are a quality team, and they have a lot of quality players. We all know that Wankhede is a tough venue.
"Hopefully, we can turn up and see that we have another opportunity to do something special for the team, for the country, and hopefully, we play our best game. That is going to be very important," Gambhir said.
