Ahmedabad, March 9 – Head coach Gautam Gambhir reiterated his long-held belief that team trophies are more important than individual milestones after India won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 title with a dominant victory over New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Addressing the media after the triumph, Gambhir emphasized that the team's culture under his leadership is focused on winning trophies rather than chasing individual records.
"My simple philosophy with Surya has always been that milestones don't matter. It's the trophies that matter. For too long in Indian cricket, we've talked about milestones. And I hope that while I'm here, we won't be focusing on milestones," he said at the press conference.
Gambhir praised captain Suryakumar Yadav for his leadership and for sharing the same philosophy of prioritizing team success over personal records.
"Look, I've said this before, I think Surya has made my life a lot easier in this format. I think he's a phenomenal leader. I think, yes, he rightly mentioned that he doesn't want to be called a captain, he wants to be called a leader because a leader is a much bigger figure in the dressing room than a captain," he said.
The former India opener pointed to the fearless batting approach displayed during the tournament as an example of players putting the team's cause ahead of personal landmarks.
"You can easily see this. You can see what Sanju did in the last three games. 97 not out, 89-88. Imagine if you were playing for a milestone. Probably, we wouldn't have reached 50," Gambhir stated.
Calling for a shift in how cricket achievements are celebrated, Gambhir said the focus should always remain on collective glory.
"Stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies. That is going to be important because the bigger purpose of a team sport is to win trophies, not score individual runs. It has never mattered to me, and it will never matter to me," he said.
Gambhir added that he considers himself fortunate to share the same vision with Suryakumar, which has helped build a strong team culture.
"And I think Surya has… Actually, I've been very fortunate that Surya and I were on the same page, especially on this one," he stated.
