 "Gambhir, who prioritises team over milestones, refuses all credit, thanks Dravid and Laxman after World Cup win")
India head coach Gautam Gambhir remembered Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup 2026 triumph in Ahmedabad as he credited the former tactician, Head of Cricket at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) VVS Laxman, and ICC chairman Jay Shah for Indian cricket’s growth story. Gambhir also insisted on prioritising team success over personal milestones and reflected on the fearless brand of cricket the Men in Blue have been playing under his guidance.
After winning the 2025 Champions Trophy, Gambhir won his second ICC trophy as a coach on Sunday as India defeated New Zealand by 96 runs in the T20 World Cup 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. This is India’s third T20 World Cup trophy as they became the first team to defend the title and to win it at home.
Gambhir remembers Dravid after T20 World Cup win
After the record-breaking triumph, Gambhir decided against basking alone in the glory and acknowledged Dravid’s contribution, under whom India won the T20 World Cup in 2024. He also thanked Laxman, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and former BCCI secretary Jay Shah for the role they have played in laying down the path to success for the Indian side.
“I think first of all I should dedicate this trophy to Rahul [Dravid] bhai, and then to VVS Laxman [bhai],” Gambhir said in the press conference. “Because what Rahul bhai has done to keep Indian cricket in such a good shape during his tenure, I have to thank him for everything. And then VVS Laxman for unconditionally doing so much for Indian cricket behind the doors, because the CoE remains the pipeline for Indian cricket. And third is obviously Ajit Agarkar, because he does take a lot of flak, but the amount of honesty he has worked with…
“And last but not least, I have to thank Jay [Shah] bhai, because not many people have actually called me when I went through the lowest moments in my tenure, whether it was after New Zealand, whether it was after South Africa, the only person who called me actually was Jay bhai. And I have to thank him for trusting me with this job, because I very well remember this, that when I was given this job, I had no experience of being the head coach of any franchise or any team, but trusting me with this job, so I have to thank these guys. And I think till these guys are there, I think Indian cricket is in very, very safe hands.”
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View AllHear Gautam Gambhir's raw reactions after winning the ICC Men's #T20WorldCup 2026! 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/Cs1kokSSRT
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 8, 2026
One of the highlights of India’s victory was the fearless brand of cricket they played in the semi-final or final. Never letting the pressure of a big stage get in the way of playing selfless cricket. The philosophy was best highlighted by Sanju Samson, who made big scores in the must-win match vs West Indies, the semi-final and final, but never chased a century as he prioritised the team over personal milestones.
Gambhir: ‘So stop celebrating milestones’
Reflecting on the change in India’s batting approach, Gambhir said that under his watch, the team will never “talk about milestones,” rather, the focus would be on winning trophies.
“My simple philosophy, and Surya’s too, has always been that milestones don’t matter. It’s the trophies that matter. For too long in Indian cricket, we have spoken about milestones. And I hope, till I am there, we are not going to talk about milestones,” Gambhir said.
“You can see the last three games what Sanju [Samson] did. 97 not out, 89, 88. Imagine if he had been playing for a milestone, probably we wouldn’t have got 250. So stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies. The bigger purpose of a team sport is to win trophies, not score individual runs. It has never mattered to me, and it will never matter to me.
“The only thing we spoke about was how we can give ourselves the best chance to win this World Cup. And the best chance to give ourselves to win this World Cup was how we react when a batter is close to his hundred. If someone is batting on 94, does he have the courage to go and get a hundred next ball rather than thinking about getting a hundred for three or four balls.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult to change that mindset. But all of them in the dressing room bought into that mindset. I don’t remember in the last year or two that anyone tried for a single on 97 or 98. Because in this dressing room, your 97 or 98 will be appreciated as much as your hundred. We scored 270s, 280s, 250s, and the only way you could do it is when you’re putting your team ahead of your own self. And everyone in that dressing room was putting the team ahead of themselves. That is the reason why we could achieve something special like this.”
Leading by example! 💪#T20WorldCup #INDvNZ #GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/rdda1W2Rjl
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 8, 2026
Gambhir also credited the players for making him a champion once again, and added that they made conscious efforts to change their playing philosophy in ICC tournaments and be braver, which eventually led to the trophy.
“First of all, it’s the players who have made me win. And I’ve been saying for a long time that you are as good a coach or captain as your players are. So I think the credit needs to go to the players for the way, the professionalism and, most importantly, the bravery with which this tournament was played. As the captain said, in bilateral, we used to play in different ways, but in ICC tournaments, we play in different ways. That was one thing we wanted to change and I’m sure everyone has seen that. If you make more than 250 runs in the semi-final and final, it just shows the quality and bravery and courage with which this tournament was played.
“The most important thing in the T20 format is that we didn’t want to be afraid of losing. Because if you are afraid of losing, you never win. I always believe that ‘high risk, high reward’ is a very important thing in this format. I would have been happier if we had been out at 110-120. But our target is always to make 250 runs. We didn’t want to play 160-170 cricket. I think for too long we played 160-170 cricket.
“We lost to South Africa by 100 [76] runs. But that ideology never changed. That mindset never changed. We never thought that we should play a little subdued. Obviously, if the captain and the coach are not on the same page, it can never be possible. The captain himself wanted to play ‘high risk, high reward’ cricket. And I think the credit needs to go to the captain as well.”
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