India in Australia 2011-12

Team deserves the criticism - Gambhir

January 17, 2012

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	Gautam Gambhir: " We have given the opportunity to people back home to give whatever they are giving [us]."© Associated Press Enlarge
Related Links Players/Officials: Gautam Gambhir Series/Tournaments: India tour of Australia Teams: India

Gautam Gambhir has said that the Indian team has earned the criticism they are receiving back home through their performance, and that to be the No. 1 Test side in the world again they will have to find ways to win away from home.

"I am not someone who will hesitate to take responsibility," Gambhir said. "I think we have not played well. I will be the first one to accept it. If we want to be the No. 1 Test-playing nation in the world, we have to do well overseas. That has been always my stand. You have to do well in England, South Africa and Australia.

"Whatever backlash is happening in India, we are ready to accept it. We have given the opportunity to people back home to give whatever they are giving [us]. There is a lot of expectation from us, that we should have done well. And with the kind of batting line-up we have, we should have done well."

Gambhir said that the side was looking forward to the Adelaide Test, and the triangular ODI series that follows. "It is disappointing but the mood is absolutely fine," Gambhir said. "When you are playing for your country and there is another Test match coming around in six days, you need to be up for it. I know things haven't gone our way, but still we need to be positive. There is a one-day series coming up. Hopefully we can play well in Adelaide, and take the momentum into the one-day series. When you are playing for your country you still have to turn out and be positive, and try and look at it as a new Test and try to win."

Gambhir had a terrible start to the series with his first three innings, brief ones, ending in pokes outside off. He began to leave the ball better from the second innings in Sydney onwards. His 83 is the highest score for an Indian batsman in the series, but he knows it is not enough to compete in Test matches. "We have got starts but we have not been able to convert them into big hundreds," Gambhir said. "Everyone in the top seven have got half-centuries, but they are not able to convert it into big hundreds. That is where we have been lacking. These things happen, and we are working hard and hopefully things turn around. We have seen things turn around very soon in international cricket, and hopefully Adelaide is the place where it turns around."

Gambhir, though, said the whole batting unit takes the responsibility for the failure, and that the openers or VVS Laxman should not be criticised in isolation. "It's not just the openers or the middle order," he said. "We need to combine as a unit. All batsmen need to play well, and all have to take responsibility. When you fail, you fail as a unit.

"Opening [the innings] is very important, and when you can give a good start obviously it helps the entire batting unit, but there will be times when you will not be doing well. I will always be the first one to take responsibility that I could not live up to the expectations of people back home, and that's something I need to answer [for]. The kind of expectations the common man has from me, that is where I need to be answerable. I need to accept that responsibility. Things can really turn around quickly."

One of the seven batsmen who have scored fifties is Virender Sehwag, and he will be captaining the side in Adelaide in MS Dhoni's absence. However, Gambhir said the magic turnaround doesn't have to come from the captain, but from the whole side. "The captain is only as good as his team," he said. "There have been no great captains, and captains don't make a difference, it's the XI that makes the difference. MS has done a great job, it's just that the entire team has not performed. It's not just MS, it's the entire team that has to take blame. With Viru coming in as the skipper, it's still the 11 people who have to perform."