Gambhir calls for fitter, sharper India ahead of T20 World Cup

India head coach Gautam Gambhir said his team wasn't quite ready for next year's T20 World Cup despite their 2-1 series win over Australia. India still have 10 T20Is before the World Cup in early 2026 – five against South Africa and five against New Zealand.

"We're still not where we want to be in three months down the line. The bigger picture is not the series, but the World Cup. Hopefully, by the time the World Cup comes, we are in that space where we want to be," Gambhir told BCCI.TV.

Gambhir stressed the importance of fitness: "From the fitness point of view, I think we still aren't where we want to be come the T20 World Cup. We want to be absolutely sharp. We want to be fit. We want to move quicker. The fitter we are, the more mentally strong we are because come the pressure games, the more physically strong we are, the more mentally strong we are. So hopefully guys know the importance of being fit. We still have three months to be where we want to be."

India continued to favour fluidity over stability in their batting order. "Two openers are permanent. Rest, everything shuffles because it's not the amount of runs that matter in T20 cricket. It's the impact that matters. People sometimes miscalculate or do not differentiate between the batting order, the runs and the impact. Runs are different and impact is different. In T20 cricket, it's all about the impact. It's 120 balls. Every ball is an event. Every ball needs to have the maximum impact. That's the reason from day one, it has been a very fluid batting order. We don't want to play a game thinking about averages, strike rates and all that stuff."

Gambhir explained the vision behind Jasprit Bumrah bowling three overs in the PowerPlay: "A lot of people relate to this T20 side as a very aggressive batting lineup. For me, bowling Jasprit Bumrah for three overs in the first six was an even more aggressive option with the ball. We don't want to be a side which is only known as an aggressive batting order, we want to be a side which should be known as an aggressive side overall. Bowling Bumrah in the first three makes us win the powerplay most of the time. Then we have two wicket-taking options in the middle with Varun and Kuldeep. It gives them leverage to bowl with freedom in the middle phase. We can take wickets all the time. It was a very aggressive move, not only with the bat, but also with the ball."

On Shivam Dube's resurgence as a bowler: "Just throw guys in the deep sea. We did the same with Shubman Gill. When he was appointed as a Test captain for an England series, we pushed him in the deep sea. He came out as a proper professional swimmer. The same was with Shivam Dube. You've got to put them under pressure, extreme pressure and see how these guys react. Imagine if he wouldn't have been thrown in that deep sea, we would have never got to know what kind of a character and what improvement he has when it comes to pressure situations. In the Asia Cup final against Pakistan, bowling the first and the third over for 12 runs – imagine the amount of confidence he must have got. Sometimes when you push people in those situations, they come out flourishing. There is so much from Shivam's point of view, he can contribute to the team. Someone who's six foot tall, who can bowl at a decent pace, who's got bounce, who's got different variations – it's only about giving him confidence."

On Abhishek Sharma's contributions and team freedom: "It's not only with Abhishek. We've given freedom to everyone. Freedom is for everyone. High risk, high reward. Ultimately, if you don't take risks, you will never have high rewards. The 15 people in the dressing room have all the freedom to go out there and express themselves and don't fear making a mistake. The more you think about making a mistake, fear making a mistake, the more you will make mistakes. It's okay to drop a catch. It's okay to bowl a bad ball. It's okay to play a bad shot. Human beings are bound to make mistakes. We will give them the liberty to fail. We will give them the liberty to make mistakes. Because the more we start telling them not to make mistakes, they will make more mistakes."

Gambhir said his toughest job as coach was having conversations with players left out of the playing XI: "That's the toughest job I have. I know there is so much quality sitting on the bench, and I know everyone deserves to be part of the playing XI, but ultimately you can only pick XI thinking about the best combination for that particular day. The most important thing is the conversation and the communication. The communication needs to be very clear, very honest. Sometimes those are hard conversations. If you tell someone that he's not playing, that's probably the toughest conversation for a coach and a player because I know the player would get upset when he deserves to be part of the playing XI. But if you're honest, if you're straightforward, if you know that what you're saying is from your heart, some players do understand. It's a communication between a player and a coach."