The Indian team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the ICC ODI World Cup in 2011. In which Indian team's opener Gautam Gambhir played a significant role in this victory.
However, since 2011 India has not been able to win the Twenty20 and One Day World Cup till date. Commenting on this, Gautam Gambhir has commented on some of the mistakes of the Indian team and said that the original players should play together to win the World Cup.
After the 2011 World Cup, the Dhoni-led Indian team captured the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. However, after that Team India under the leadership of Virat Kohli could not win the ICC trophy even once.
India was defeated in the final match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Apart from this, India also lost in the final of the 2014 Twenty20 World Cup and the final of the World Test Championship 2021.
Gambhir says the biggest mistake is not managing the workload. Speaking on Star Sports' Road to World Cup show, Gambhir made this comment on India's preparations for the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup.
Whenever we talk about new things or approaches, first you have to know your core players. So they should not be excluded from even one ODI match. If he feels tired, he should take a break from Twenty20 but ODI matches
Gambhir further said, 'I think the way the Indian team lost in the last two World Cups. The biggest mistake was that all the players did not play enough cricket together due to the workload. I can't remember how many times the best playing eleven played together.'
Gambhir took a dig at the BCCI, saying, 'During the World Cup, we decided to field our best playing XI and it was not the best playing XI.'
In fact, senior players are often rested in the wake of the World Cup to handle the workload. Criticizing this, Gambhir further said, 'If a player who plays all three formats wants to take a break, he can take a break from Twenty20 or IPL as well.'
If a player taking a break is causing damage to an IPL franchise, don't worry about it. IPL will come again next year. But the World Cup happens only once in four years. So I think there is more to winning the World Cup than winning the IPL.
Gambhir said that winning the World Cup is more important than winning the IPL overall. According to Gambhir, IPL comes every year but World Cup is held every 4 years so more emphasis should be given to it.
Apart from this, Gautam Gambhir also said that the players playing in the World Cup should be given an opportunity to play together for preparation.