“The coach and captain keep changing but”- Axar Patel’s sensational revelation on Indian dressing room
India allrounder Axar Patel has claimed that the new head coach Gautam Gambhir has made it clear that India will be playing the same way they have been already playing and there will be no changes in the playing style.
Recently, India underwent wholesale changes in their coaching staff after Rahul Dravid decided not to continue as the head coach of the team after his tenure expired. Gautam Gambhir was appointed India’s new head coach to win several ICC tournaments in the coming years.
Gambhir brought in Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate as the assistant coaches for the Sri Lanka tour. Morne Morkel is in the race to become India’s bowling coach as well.
T Dilip has been retained as the fielding coach and he is the only person to be retained from the previous coaching staff. According to the reports, India’s coaching staff will be finalized after the tour of Sri Lanka.
Axar Patel reveals India’s game plan under Gautam Gambhir
Axar Patel has been an important part of India’s team in the past 10 years. He came in as the understudy of another fellow allrounder from his state Ravindra Jadeja. After struggling to find a place in India’s first-choice playing XI for a long time, Axar has now established himself as a key member of this team, especially in T20Is.
“I have been playing for 10 years. I have played with different coaches and captains. I don’t think a lot will change in the team. When we were talking in the team meeting, they also said the same thing that the coach and captain keep changing but the team remains the same and the 11 or 15 players who stay, they have to do it,” Axar said after India’s win on Saturday (July 27).
The team atmosphere does not change despite the change in coach – Axar Patel
The 30-year-old also mentioned the team management’s message to the players. He reckoned that their thinking might be different but it won’t change the team’s atmosphere.
“They have told us that we will play the way we have been playing. Obviously, the coach and his input can be different. The thinking can be different, they keep telling you here and there. But there is not much change in the team’s atmosphere,” Axar added.
India have been preferring to play an aggressive brand of cricket in the white-ball formats. Even Rohit Sharma spoke about playing with intent during his tenure as India’s T20I captain. In the ODIs too, the Men in Blue have been looking to score runs despite losing wickets.
This aggression was visible during the first T20I against Sri Lanka as well, where India racked up 213-7 in 20 overs. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal put in 74 runs in the powerplay for the first wicket, which was followed by a whirlwind batting display from skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
