'Trust and faith': Gautam Gambhir reveals India’s success mantra

After India won the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, head coach Gautam Gambhir said his responsibility is not towards social media, but the media who cover the sport and the people who make up the whole Team India changing room.

India defeated the New Zealand national cricket team by 96 runs in the final at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The win added another major achievement to Gambhir’s record as India’s head coach.




Under Gambhir, India has already won the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, the Asia Cup 2025, and now the T20 World Cup. Earlier, he also helped Kolkata Knight Riders win the Indian Premier League as a mentor.



During his playing career, the Delhi-born cricketer also won several major tournaments including the T20 World Cup, the ODI World Cup, the Asia Cup, and the IPL.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Gambhir said, "My accountability is not towards any social media. It is for the team. The process was not to be shared. We wanted to play fearless cricket. We wanted to play high risk high reward and this is how you play in this format. Captain and I were on the same page. Because if I can work honestly with them, if we can put in the hard work honestly - my accountability was never before, nor will it be today or in the future (to social media). Then even if I win two ICC trophies as a coach, it really does not matter because in the future, I think those 30 people (in the changing room) matter the most to me in my coaching tenure, no one else matters."

Gambhir said the team wanted to play fearless cricket with a high-risk, high-reward approach, which is important in the T20 format. He added that he and the team captain were on the same page about this strategy.

He also spoke about his team selection philosophy. Gambhir said players are chosen based on trust and belief, not hope. According to him, if a player is selected with trust, that trust should not disappear after a few poor matches.

This approach was seen when he backed Sanju Samson despite his earlier poor form and persisting with world number one batter Abhishek Sharma, who lost his form during the tournament. Gambhir said, "You pick the team on trust and faith not on hope. So when you pick someone on trust and faith, you do not lose that trust and faith after four or five games. As simple as it can get. I have never, ever felt that we have ever picked a team on hope. The trust and the faith that all of us had in the squad that we had in the dressing room, irrespective whether we would have won this tournament, whether we would not have won this tournament, that is irrespective. The faith and trust would have exactly remained the same. So for me, I think that is something which is very important. And that will never go away, the trust and faith."

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