Q: On the Indian Cricket Team's new era under Gautam Gambhir.
It’s a start of something new post the T20 World Cup. It's an important start for India. Yes, they played in Zimbabwe, but traveling with the team and being the first tour of any coach or any leadership group will take time to settle down. As fans and as supporters and lovers of Indian Cricket, we need to give them that time to settle down and fall into a rhythm. So I think this one is going to be an exciting tour to just see how the team functions in this new infrastructure.
Q: On whether Suryakumar Yadav will be a better captain than Rohit Sharma or Hardik Pandya.
Well, I don't think we should be comparing it. We understand the kind of player Suryakumar is. We are yet to discover the kind of leader Surya will be. To keep an open mind and expect and hope for the best for someone like Surya because the batter Suryakumar Yadav has been second to none. He's been an incredible batter and someone who has been such an important cog in this Indian cricket team, especially in T20 cricket. One of the best T20 batters in the world, arguably ever. He has grown by leaps and bounds over the last five-seven years. We understand and know that his rapport with someone like Gautam Gambhir is phenomenal. You know that their combination perhaps will work really well with each other. I think it's a matter of time to see how they do well. But just hope for the best for the two of them as a leading leadership group. Because there's a lot of choice; there's a lot of quality that's out there; as far as Indian Cricket is concerned. So just to kind of exercise patience as they go into this venture together.
Q: On the challenges Sanju Samson faces in being picked for the Indian Cricket team.
Sanju (Samson) was part of the T20 World Cup winning side. It's not easy to be a part of the World Cup team. It's a huge achievement in itself just to find yourself as a member of the World Cup team. And Sanju has been a part of the World Cup winning side. Yes, albeit he didn't get to play a game in that, but he was there. So I think they picked him... Unfortunately for him, I think the biggest challenge for someone like Sanju is the fact that, you can't find a spot for him that he can consistently play at. The batting position for someone like him is, we all know Sanju bats best at number three, maximum number four. And that's been a hard one to find for Sanju Samson within this Indian team. And it's a problem that Sanju is not the first one to experience in Indian cricket and won't be the last one to experience in Indian cricket. We've all been through it. You've got to take it in your stride. And I think Sanju has done fairly well with the opportunities that has come his way. And we all know how all of us fans love Sanju and support Sanju from the outside. He'll get his opportunities. But when these opportunities do come in that position that he does thrive in, he needs to grab those opportunities and leave no stone unturned to cement that position there when the opportunities do come.
Q: Who could replace Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Indian T20I setup?
There’s so much quality and options to pick from. The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma have missed out from this T20I squad. But the quality of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal; both didn’t get to play in the World Cup. And I think Shubman Gill is a World Cup quality player. He deserves to be a World Cup winner. If you think of some of the players who missed out on this World Cup, for me, those names that immediately come up is, obviously Shubman Gill, KL Rahul. I think these guys are the ones who, are incredibly talented players and someone who are such important players in the Indian cricket narrative that I feel these are players who deserved to win the World Cup as well and missed out. And I think that this is the fact that they will know. So quality is never going to be an issue for India. It's about finding it's about them finding a space in those places to be able to, you know, stack up performances at the right time to be at the right place. A great start post the World Cup is Shubman Gill & Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. I do believe that, Rutu & Abhishek’s time will come. I think it’s a matter of time.
Q: On roles that Robin Uthappa will be taking up in the near future.
I'm enjoying my cricket. Unfortunately for me, current leagues aren’t happening for me, even though I’m available. One of the reasons I retired is so that I could play a lot more cricket. In India, because of the rules that are there, as a current Indian player; you can't play leagues outside of India, and I wanted to experience that as a student of the game. I wanted to experience that cricket and play competitive cricket all over the world. But unfortunately for some reason that, we have to retire from all forms of Indian cricket to be able to make ourselves available to play cricket outside of India. And I think the narrative that sticks for some reason is that he's retired, so he's not necessarily interested. But it's quite the opposite for me. Which is why I'm keeping myself as fit as I can be and hoping to play as much cricket that I can play. Unfortunately, the only current cricket I am playing at the moment is T10 Cricket. But I'm hoping that I get to play T20 Cricket as well. And I'm hoping that those opportunities do come. Till they do come, I’m trying to play as much cricket as I can and whatever comes my way, which is why I find myself playing these legends leagues. It's fun. It's a lot of fun to be able to play with your, your teammates on the bus. And it's a lot of fun. And I really had a lot of fun playing with the likes of Irfan (Pathan), Yusuf (Pathan), (Ambati) Rayudu, (Suresh) Raina, Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), Bajju (Harbhajan Singh). It felt like we went back 20 years and we were just seeing those little kids again who are coming up through the ranks, It is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. And I’m hoping to play a lot more current cricket as well.
Q: Will Robin Uthappa be interested in taking up a role as the Indian Cricket team head coach in the future?
Maybe not now. I certainly would enjoy the responsibility to be able to serving Indian cricket in a different way. And you know a team environment is something I truly enjoy. As far as I'm concerned at this point in time, I'd love to spend time with my kids right now, my family right now. I have a very young family and I understand the responsibilities that it takes to serve your country. And I believe the time will come, in the future maybe; not in the immediate future, but definitely in the future is something I would be very keen on.
Q: On the upcoming Sri Lanka vs India series.
Yes, I really am looking forward to it. Sri Lanka is a place I've always enjoyed and going out there and watching these young cricketers trying to make a space for themselves within that the new ecosystem is something that I enjoy calling.
