Coach Gambhir lauds India's 'courage' after T20 World Cup triumph on home soil

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/yadav-suryakumar/jik1yPzM/"]Suryakumar Yadav[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/india/fcOzl2uI/"]India[/a] hammered [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/new-zealand/G6PWlrQB/"]New Zealand[/a] by 96 runs in a one-sided final in Ahmedabad after they posted a massive 255-5 batting first.[/p][p]Opener [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/samson-sanju/nH19FPur/"]Sanju Samson[/a]'s 89 laid the platform for India to score more than 250 for a second straight match, after their seven-run semi-final win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/UJC5mtAU/"]England[/a], and for the third time in the tournament.[/p][p][b]"If you score 250-plus runs in the semi-final and final then it shows the kind of quality and the kind of bravery and courage we played the tournament," [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gambhir-gautam/OnhAxG8q/"]Gambhir[/a] told reporters.[/b][/p][p][b]"We did not want to fear losing, high-risk, high-reward is an important thing in this format," he said.[/b][/p][p][b]"I would have been happy to get bowled out for 110-120, but our target is 250. The captain also wanted to play this brand of cricket, so credit needs to go to the captain as well."[/b][/p][embed guid="706e2b07-2225-4958-bd19-6fa717e2e5ad" url="https://x.com/ICC/status/2030736344771875060" social-type="twitter" /][p]Gambhir, who replaced Rahul Dravid as coach after the T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, was underfire coming into the tournament after home defeats in other formats.[/p][p]India were beaten 2-0 by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/tUhlKzIm/"]South Africa[/a] in a Test series last year, and New Zealand won an ODI series 2-1.[/p][p][b]"My accountability is not towards any social media talk, my accountability is towards the 30 in my team," said Gambhir on facing criticism.[/b][/p][p][b]"Whether I have won two ICC (International Cricket Council) trophies or not, those 30 people matter to me the most."[/b][/p][p]India won the ODI Champions Trophy and the T20 Asia Cup last year under two-time World Cup winner Gambhir.[/p][p]Gambhir, 44, credited captain Suryakumar, who sat alongside the coach in the press conference, for the T20 success.[/p][p][b]"Surya has made my life a lot easier in this format, I think he is a phenomenal leader," said Gambhir.[/b][/p][p][b]"My simple philosophy with Surya is that milestones don't matter, trophies do. Too long in Indian cricket we have spoken about milestones and I hope till the time I am there we don't talk about milestones."[/b][/p][embed guid="298ca180-ae11-4d35-b166-8dec91aeef64" url="https://x.com/ICC/status/2030733135571464542" social-type="twitter" /][p]Samson, a wicketkeeper-batsman, stood out as the team's star after he made a stunning comeback in the team midway to score three successive half-centuries.[/p][p]The in-form Samson, who hit 97 not out and 89 in his previous two innings, blasted five fours and eight sixes in the final to be named player of the tournament.[/p][p][b]"Sanju to get three in a row and to do that after coming back it takes show much of character and courage where you know maybe your career is on line," said Gambhir.[/b][/p][p][b]"Making a comeback like that and playing those kind of innings with such flamboyance, you need to be a special talent and he deserves a lot more than he has got till now."[/b][/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/india-fcOzl2uI/new-zealand-G6PWlrQB/?mid=rkrfMtJF"]Check out the game summary with Flashscore.[/a][/p]