Gambhir shuts down Team India critics, backs Rohit and dismisses 'Dubai advantage': 'Don't care what people say'

In his typical aggressive manner, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir hit back at his critics after the Men in Blue stormed into the final of the Champions Trophy 2025 . India defeated Australia by four wickets in the semi-final on Tuesday as Virat Kohli made a match-winning 84 while Mohammed Shami took three wickets.

Facing the press after India reached their fourth ICC tournament final in the last two years, Gambhir was quick to slam the chatter around India enjoying the advantage of playing all their matches in Dubai .

Champions Trophy 2025: News | Schedule | Results

The former India opener said his team hasn’t even practiced once at the venue and it’s as neutral for them as it is for other teams. “There’s no undue advantage in India playing in Dubai. This venue is as neutral for us as it is for the others. We haven’t even practised once at this ground as of now. We practised at the ICC Academy,” Gambhir said during the post-match press conference.

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Gambhir says he doesn’t care about critcism

Gambhir and Team India had also faced severe criticism before the start of the Champions Trophy 2025 as they picked five spinners in the squad and opted for KL Rahul as their main wicket-keeper instead of Rishabh Pant.

After reaching the final with what at the end seemed like a comfortable win, Gambhir hit back at his critics who had questioned why Rahul was picked over Pant. In the 265-run chase against Australia, Rahul made 42 not out of 34 balls from the No.6 spot.

“KL averages 50 (48.53) in one-day cricket; that’s the answer," Gambhir said.

He further added, “I don’t care about it. I don’t even care about it, honestly. My job is to be honest to 140 crore Indians and to my players in the dressing room. I don’t care what people say about it, how they talk about it, whether they’ve got agendas, whether they’ve not got agendas, I don’t even care about it. If I’m honest about my job, that is all that matters, and I can sleep in peace.”

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He also once again cleared his views on why Axar Patel has been promoted ot No.5 ahead of Rahul.

“In a team sport, numbers don’t matter, batting positions don’t matter, it’s the impact that matters. KL has done really well at No. 6. We feel that he gives us more depth, and that is how we want to play the game. KL has done that really happily, and he’s done that really well at number six," Gambhir added.

Gambhir backs Rohit to keep playing for India

The 43-year-old India coach was also asked about Rohit Sharma’s future with the team. The 37-year-old had faced a lot of criticism recently after India lost back-to-back Test series against New Zealand and Australia.

Gambhir threw his weight behind Rohit and praised his ‘impactful’ batting in the powerplay, underlining that he will not just look at stats while deciding a player’s future but also the responsibility one takes.

“Look, the final of the Champions Trophy is now coming up. What can I say before that? If your captain bats with such a tempo, it just gives a very good signal to the dressing room that we want to be absolutely fearless and courageous. You evaluate from the runs; we evaluate from the impact. That’s the difference,” Gambhir said after India’s comfortable victory.

“You evaluate from the stats; we evaluate from the impact. As journalists, as experts, you only look at numbers, averages. But as a coach, as a team, we don’t look at numbers or averages. If the captain puts up his hand first, then there is nothing better than that for the dressing room,” he added.