Gambhir dedicates T20 World Cup win to Dravid, Laxman

"Stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies, because the bigger purpose of a team sport is to win trophies, not score individual runs," India coach said

ESPNcricinfo staff

Published: Mar 8, 2026, 8:53 PM (4 hrs ago)

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India head coach Gautam Gambhir has dedicated the 2026 T20 World Cup win to his predecessor Rahul Dravid and the head of cricket at the Centre of Excellence VVS Laxman. He also thanked chief selector Ajit Agarkar and the former BCCI secretary Jay Shah for their support.

"I think first of all I should dedicate this trophy to Rahul [Dravid] bhai, and then to VVS Laxman [bhai]," Gambhir said after India beat New Zealand in Ahmedabad for their T20 title. "Because what Rahul bhai has done to keep Indian cricket in such a good shape during his tenure, I have to thank him for everything. And then VVS Laxman for unconditionally doing so much for Indian cricket behind the doors, because the CoE remains the pipeline for Indian cricket. And third is obviously Ajit Agarkar, because he does take a lot of flak, but the amount of honesty he has worked with…

"And last but not least, I have to thank Jay [Shah] bhai, because not many people have actually called me when I went through the lowest moments in my tenure, whether it was after New Zealand, whether it was after South Africa, the only person who called me actually was Jay bhai. And I have to thank him for trusting me with this job, because I very well remember this, that when I was given this job, I had no experience of being the head coach of any franchise or any team, but trusting me with this job, so I have to thank these guys. And I think till these guys are there, I think Indian cricket is in very, very safe hands."

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While Gambhir inherited a winning team, he, along with captain Suryakumar Yadav, transformed it into a fearless unit. Gambhir said it was important to play high-risk cricket if they were to achieve big rewards.

"First of all, it's the players who have made me win. And I've been saying for a long time that you are as good a coach or captain as your players are. So I think the credit needs to go to the players for the way, the professionalism and, most importantly, the bravery with which this tournament was played. As the captain said, in bilateral, we used to play in different ways, but in ICC tournaments, we play in different ways. That was one thing we wanted to change and I'm sure everyone has seen that. If you make more than 250 runs in the semi-final and final, it just shows the quality and bravery and courage with which this tournament was played.

"The most important thing in the T20 format is that we didn't want to be afraid of losing. Because if you are afraid of losing, you never win. I always believe that 'high risk, high reward' is a very important thing in this format. I would have been happier if we had been out at 110-120. But our target is always to make 250 runs. We didn't want to play 160-170 cricket. I think for too long we played 160-170 cricket.

"We lost to South Africa by 100 [76] runs. But that ideology never changed. That mindset never changed. We never thought that we should play a little subdued. Obviously, if the captain and the coach are not on the same page, it can never be possible. The captain himself wanted to play 'high risk, high reward' cricket. And I think the credit needs to go to the captain as well."

In the semi-final and the final, India posted totals of 253 for 7 and 255 for 5, respectively. Gambhir said the key to posting such totals was to shift the focus from individual milestones to team goals.

"My simple philosophy, and Surya's too, has always been that milestones don't matter. It's the trophies that matter. For too long in Indian cricket, we have spoken about milestones. And I hope, till I am there, we are not going to talk about milestones.

"You can see the last three games what Sanju [Samson] did. 97 not out, 89, 88. Imagine if he had been playing for a milestone, probably we wouldn't have got 250. So stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies. 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.

"The only thing we spoke about was how we can give ourselves the best chance to win this World Cup. And the best chance to give ourselves to win this World Cup was how we react when a batter is close to his hundred. If someone is batting on 94, does he have the courage to go and get a hundred next ball rather than thinking about getting a hundred for three or four balls.

"Sometimes it's very difficult to change that mindset. But all of them in the dressing room bought into that mindset. I don't remember in the last year or two that anyone tried for a single on 97 or 98. Because in this dressing room, your 97 or 98 will be appreciated as much as your hundred. We scored 270s, 280s, 250s, and the only way you could do it is when you're putting your team ahead of your own self. And everyone in that dressing room was putting the team ahead of themselves. That is the reason why we could achieve something special like this."

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