'It's one game at a time'

“I’ve always felt that when you’re playing for your country, you can’t be complacent,” he said, adding that there was no room for relaxation. “We’ve got three more games to go and we’re going to take it as a three-match series from now on. I’ve always thought New Zealand is a very dangerous one-day side. We’re still one game away from winning the series. We’re taking it one game at a time and really looking forward to the contest tomorrow.”

Asked if it was right to leave out S Sreesanth, who took seven wickets in the first two matches, Gambhir felt the bowlers who have come in for the Kerala bowler were very experienced. “Praveen Kumar has bowled very well in the recent one-dayers. Zaheer Khan is very experienced. I think it’s important that we give Sreesanth some rest before the South Africa tour. It’s a good break for him,” he noted.

While the left-hander said Sreesanth needed rest, he felt Zaheer needed match practice. “He’s missed the last Test match and the first two ODIs,” he pointed out. “Obviously, any bowling in international cricket is really useful for him. He’s our main bowler and getting him back is always very important for any captain.

“The way he bowls, I’m really looking forward to having him in the side. It’s going to be good match practice for him before the South Africa tour, because we’re not playing any (practice) games in South Africa. He can really use these three gams to his advantage and bowl well and take that confidence to South Africa,” he explained.

His opening partner Murali Vijay has got good starts but failed to convert them. Gambhir said the Tamil Nadu batsman needed to be given some time. “Two innings and people start talking about form. Two twenties or thirties make someone out of form and one fifty makes him in-form. I’ve always said that you need to give our players time. They’re human beings, they’re bound to make mistakes and you’ve got to look at the positive side that he’s been getting starts, which means he’s batting well, and he’s not too far off converting those starts into a big one,” he offered.