Gambhir dismisses fatigue factor

Out-of-favour opener Gautam Gambhir on Wednesday refused to believe that fatigue due to excessive cricket was the reason behind India’s back-to-back defeats in the ongoing Tri series in the West Indies.

“Not at all... if you talk about fatigue, then it should not only affect the Indian team but also the other teams. They should also get affected by it. Sri Lanka is playing the same amount of cricket as India. If other team has played well, we must acknowledge it. There efforts should be recognised,” said Gambhir.

India’s tri-series campaign was thrown into disarray after a crushing 161-run defeat against Sri Lanka in Kingston on Tuesday night. The Indians first allowed Sri Lanka to post a mammoth 348 for one and then were shot out for 187 in 44.5 overs to suffer their second successive defeat.

The Indians got barely a few days to rejoice after their Champions Trophy win in England before boarding the flight to the Caribbeans.

However, Gambhir warned against reading too much into the losses and said it’s part and parcel of the game. “It happens in every sport, there are bad and good phases and these things happen. It’s part and parcel of cricket,” said Gambhir.

The Delhi dasher also refused to comment on Virat Kohli’s captaincy, who is leading in the absence of regular skipper MS Dhoni.