Nice to have Gambhir back, but all 15 up for selection, says Anil Kumble

It has been two years since Gautam Gambhir wore the Indian whites. After the England tour, the southpaw has fallen out of favor, but has asked questions of the selectors time and again with his domestic performances since then. The Delhi batsman has finally earned his call after KL Rahul ended up with an injury during the first Test at Kanpur. Coach Kumble, speaking today, expressed his happiness over the comeback of Gautam Gambhir to the Indian Test team. However, he has hinted at a minimal role for the batsman stating that everyone is in the mix for the second game.

Kumble said, “I think it's really nice to have Gautam back. Gautam has done really well in domestic cricket. He is a part of the 15. I don't want to give away anything with regard to team combinations, but all 15 are available for selection. So it's nice to have him back," reported PTI.

Additionally, the coach has come out in defence of under-fire batsman Cheteshwar Pujara. The No.3 has made a name for himself with his sublime defense and his uncanny ability of grinding down on the wicket. But, he has faced criticism from many quarters for his slow game play and inability to score runs at a brisk pace.

However, Kumble has termed the debate of strike rate for the batsmen in Tests are irrelevant.

He said, “I know there is a lot of strike-rate in the last eight years after the advent of T20.When I was playing, in Test cricket, strike-rates were mostly talked about for bowlers and not for batsmen. That's how I like to look at it. In a team, you need different characters, different quality players. Players, whose skillsets are suited to different challenges that happen in a Test match. Because we've seen that that's what happens in a Test match. That's the beauty about Test cricket. From my point of view, as far as I am concerned, strike-rates are relevant only for bowlers in Test matches," reported PTI.

After Sandeep Patil revealed that the team management had a chat with Pujara about his strike-rate problem, Virat Kohli had opened up in Kanpur about the fact.

Kohli had said that, “In West Indies, what we spoke about was the need for... he is someone who absorbs the pressure really well but after a certain stage in the innings there comes a time when the team needs runs. That's where we felt that he has the ability to capitalise. It was just about conveying that to him. He has worked hard on his game. He scored at a good strike-rate in the Duleep trophy. Even on this wicket, he was scoring at 65, almost 70 strike-rate. For me it was a revelation, to see Pujara bat that way, because he used to bat that way initially.”

Supporting the statements of Kohli, Kumble said, “I think you need to bat based on situations.  Yes, Virat is right that someone like Pujara in the West Indies, probably on one occasion…and he only played two innings. And both those innings were relevant. Even in the first Test match, Vijay got out cheaply and then he and Shikhar had a good partnership till lunch. That was crucial for the team, because we went into lunch losing only one wicket. And we all know the importance of the first session of a match that is the first Test of a series.”