Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Highlights: Hardik Pandya's fitness a concern, relationship with Virat Kohli addressed

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: “You've got to see who has been picked ahead of them. At this stage, we had a chance to give some of the guus a go in Zimbabwe. We have depth. Rinku missed out on t20 World Cup for no fault of his, sometimes that is just the way it goes. Difficult to fit everyone in the 15. That is generally the life of a player. It is tough but that is the reality.”

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: “Most important thing is that they will always have my back. Aim to make it happy and secure dressing room. I am taking over a very successful team. Runner ups in WTC and 50-overs WC. Big shoes to fill and looking forward to it,” says Gambhir.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: “Surya is a deserving candidates. Got feedback from dressing room. Best t20 player. Wanted a captain likely to play all games. Hardik is always an important player for us. Those skillsets are hard to find. Fitness has been a challenge with him. Hopefully his performances are more important than anything else. We want someone who is likely to be available more often than not. Saying all that, Surya has got all the necessary qualities to be the captain,” says Agarkar about the reason behind choosing SKY over Pandya.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: All right here we go folks. The two gentlemen have taken their seats at the table.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: Regardless of what happens from here on, what is written in stone is that Hardik Pandya was among the protagonists in India's successful 2024 T20 World Cup campaign. The all-rounder scored144 runs in six innings at an average of 48.00 and a strike rate of 151.57, with a half-century and best score of 50*. He also took 11 wickets in eight games at an average of 17.36 and an economy rate of 7.64, with the best figures of 3/20.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: The all-rounder was captain in T20Is for much of 2023, with Rohit Sharma sitting out from the format, and even led India in a few ODIs whenever the regular skipper was unavailable. All in all, Pandya led India in 16 T20I matches, winning 10, losing five, and one notably ending in a tie. His win percentage was 62.50.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: This will be among the bigger questions for Gambhir and Agarkar to answer. KL Rahul is clearly out of the T20I squad but the opposite true as far as ODIs and Tests are concerned. Rahul has been quite sensational as wicketkeeper-batter in both formats over the last year and a half but the return of Rishabh Pant, and the presence of young Dhruv Jurel, does put a question mark on his standing.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: Ravindra Jadeja, like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, announced his retirement from T20Is after the T20 World Cup final. However, he wasn't named in the ODI leg of this tour either, despite Rohit and Kohli being in the squad. It has been reported that making sure Jadeja gets ample rest before the 10 Test matches India play at home and then in Australia is the reason for this, considering injuries have taken a toll on the veteran all-rounder in recent months. Other than this, Gambhir and the selectors are also reportedly keen on giving Axar Patel a run in ODIs.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: This press conference will be streamed live on Jio Cinema. It is scheduled to start at 10am but then these things rarely ever start without at least a 15-20 minute delay so dig in.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: Rohit Sharma revealing that the 2024 T20 World Cup final was his last match for India in the shortest format confirmed two things. The first is that a chapter has come to an end in Indian cricket. The other, was that there needs to be someone to lead the new chapter. Hardik Pandya was expected to be that man, having redeemed himself and more in the T20 World Cup, particularly in the final.

Gautam Gambhir Press Conference Live: Gambhir is no stranger to Sri Lanka. He played four Tests in the country, scoring 312 runs at an average of 39.00 with three half-centuries. Gambhir played 18 ODIs in the country scoring 759 runs at an average of 42.16 with two centuries and a half-century. His T20I record is rather forgettable, having scored just 99 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 115.11 and average of 14.14.

Gautam Gambhir press conference live: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

Gautam Gambhir press conference live: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

Gautam Gambhir press conference live: A new era in Indian cricket begins today. Gautam Gambhir has the unenviable task of potentially having to oversee a period of transition, with names that have been associated with Indian cricket for the past decade or so coming to the twilight of their careers and the newer ones coming of age. The Indian team's first major act in this new period was appointing Suryakumar Yadav as captain for this upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Gambhir and chief selector will be answering questions on this and more in the upcoming press conference. Stay tuned!