"World-class cricketer": Gautam Gambhir remarks on this Indian cricketer

Ahead of the Test series against New Zealand Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir backed stalwart Virat Kohli to come good in the series and also in the BorderGavaskar Trophy He also noted that Kohli was as hungry as he was during his debutIn the Test series against New Zealand Team India will look to continue their home dominance The series will kick start on October 16 with the first Test match set to be played in BengaluruThough Virat has been consistent in the longer format since scoring his 28th Test century his first in three years against Australia back in March last year his struggle to play long Test knocks consistently in the whole of the 2020s decade is wellknownIn 31 Tests this decade he has scored 1745 runs at an average of 3355 with just two centuries and eight fifties in 54 innings This record looks really subpar as per the batters mighty standards having dominated the format in the 20102019 eraIn three Tests this year Virat has scored 157 runs in six innings and three Tests at an average of 3140 with best score of 47 In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle though Virat has been doing well for himself having made 468 runs in 10 innings at an average of 5200 with a century and two fifties His best score is 121 In the recently concluded Bangladesh series Kohli scored just 99 runs in four innings with best score of 47Also ReadSachin Tendulkar to inspire young athletes and sports fans in TexasSpeaking ahead of the game in a prematch presser Gautam Gambhir called Virat a worldclass cricketerVirat has always been a worldclass 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 said GambhirAnd that is what makes him a worldclass 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 he addedHaving played 11 Test matches against New Zealand Virat Kohli has scored 866 runs with an average of 4557 He also has three centuries and three halfcenturies with a best score of 211 runsSpeaking about selecting spinner Kuldeep Yadav who did not play the Bangladesh Tests Gautam Gambhir said We do not leave anyone out we just select the playing eleven we feel can do the job We have so many quality bowlers in our side incluing KuldeepThe head coach acknowledged that New Zealand is a different challenge for India and are a professional unit with some quality players who can hurt themThey have got players who can do the job for them as well so we respect them but we do not fear anyone I have 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 he addedExpressing his views about scoring runs in Test cricket Gautam Gambhir said that it is all about adaptability and the Indian team wants to be a unit which can score 400 runs in a day amd can also bat for two days straight in order to draw the matchYou call that growth you call that adaptability you call that test cricket If you play the same way then it is 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 he addedHe further stated that the team is not focusing on the ICC World Test Championship despite being at the top of the table For now the complete focus is on New ZealandIndia named a 15player squad on Friday for the upcoming three Tests against New Zealand beginning on October 16 in Bengaluru For the Bangladesh Tests with Rohit Sharma leading the side India left the position of vicecaptain vacant But this time star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been officially appointed as Rohits deputy for the three TestsIndia has been extremely dominant in Test conditions having not lost a Test series at home since their 12 loss to England in 201213 season Since then India has won 18 successive Test series at home and are undefeated in a series since over 4000 days On the other hand New Zealand suffered a 20 series whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka away from home recently The Tim Southeeled side was blanked in the opening Test that went right down the wire with a 63run defeat and lost the second Test by an innings and 154 runsWith ANI Inputs