“He’s as hungry as when he made his debut” - Gautam Gambhir on Virat Kohli ahead of IND vs NZ 1st Test 2024

Indian coach Gautam Gambhir has lauded Virat Kohli as a world-class player who remains just as motivated to score now as he was at the beginning of his career. This statement came during a press conference on Monday, October 14, ahead of the three-match Test series against New Zealand. The series begins on Wednesday, October 16, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Kohli is just 53 runs away from becoming the fourth Indian cricketer to achieve 9,000 Test runs. Gambhir added that the veteran batter will be keen to make his mark in the series against New Zealand and Australia. He said:

“Virat has always been very clear that he is a world-class cricketer. He has performed for such a long period of time and he is as hungry as when he made his debut. I remember opening the batting with him when he made his debut in Sri Lanka. To now, his hunger is always there and is already there.

"And that is what makes him a world class cricketer and I am sure that he will be hungry to get runs in this series and probably moving forward to Australia as well. And we know that once he gets into those runs scoring how consistent can he be.”

Gambhir, celebrating his 43rd birthday, mentioned that the team is well-prepared to take on New Zealand. He recognized the visitors' quality players but stressed that they don’t fear anyone. He added:

"New Zealand is a completely different challenge. We know that they're a very, very professional unit, they've got some really high quality players, they've got players who can hurt us, they've got players who can do the job for them as well, so we respect them, but we don't fear anyone.

"I've said it many times, that we will always respect every opposition, we want to be selfless, we want to be humble, we want to try and play the game as hard as possible on the cricket field.”

The second match of the series will take place in Pune, while the final game will be held in Mumbai.

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“We want to be that team that can score 400 in one day and bat for two days to draw” - Gautam Gambhir on the team’s mindset

When asked about the team’s approach and mindset for the upcoming series, the Indian coach emphasized that he wants his players to be capable of scoring 400 runs in a day and to be able to bat for two consecutive days as well. Gambhir said:

“We want to be that team that can score 400 in one day and bat for two days to draw. And you call that growth, you call that adaptability, you call that test cricket. If you play the same way, then it's not growth.

"We have players who can score 400 or 450 runs in one day, and there are also players who can bat for two days, to draw the test match. And we want to play the same type of cricket. No other type of cricket.”

India will head into the New Zealand series after sweeping Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home.