ABU DHABI // Gautam Gambhir says he will not be using this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL) as a launch pad to get back in the India national team.
Gambhir, 32, has played 54 Tests, 147 one-day internationals (ODI) and 37 Twenty20 internationals for India but has not been chosen by selectors in any format since making his last ODI appearance against England in January 2013.
The captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, who kick off this season’s IPL on Wednesday against the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, said yesterday that his only focus is on helping his team win matches, with thoughts of an international comeback far from his mind.
“Never,” he replied, when asked if he had designs on regaining his place with India. “I have always said that I don’t look at such platforms for my comeback.
“My aim as of now is to do well for KKR and their fans. The fans have stuck with us in tough situations and hopefully we will do well.
“I don’t play for comebacks and I always play to see my team win and that’s what I’m looking for. If it has to happen, it will happen.
Gambhir arrived in Abu Dhabi on the back of a good domestic competition in India.
The left-handed opener scored 162 runs in five games with a top score of 75 in the zonal leg of the Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy and had also scored heavily in the domestic season.
“The domestic season was decent because we played on some difficult tracks,” Gambhir said after his first net session in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. “When you have played on difficult tracks and done well, then obviously it makes you sure about your own game.
“You start trusting your game because when you play on flat tracks you always have those doubts. Playing on difficult wickets has helped me tighten my game.
“I’m playing here for the first time. Obviously the wickets look very similar to what we get back at home in Kolkata and other venues. The conditions won’t be very different and it will be very much similar.”
Gambhir, who was part of the Kolkata team that won the 2012 edition of the IPL, said he was relishing playing the defending champions in five days’ time away from the partisan Mumbai crowd.
“Mumbai Indians is a quality side and meeting them in the first game away from their home crowd is a good thing. Getting them out of your way will give the team a lot of confidence,” he said.
“When we won the tournament in 2012, we played our first game against Chennai Super Kings. Though we lost that match, we played very strongly and then went on to win. We are looking for pluses from the first match.”
He added: “We have got some really exciting youngsters in the squad and I’m sure that they will try and express themselves to the fullest and play with lot of freedom.”
KKR were the first team to arrive in the UAE and will have their third training session at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council’s Nursery Oval on Friday from 10am.
The Mumbai Indians will have their first session at the adjoining Zayed Stadium from 6pm.
apassela@thenational.ae
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