Gambhir has always been a team coach: Avesh Khan

On the eve of the fourth T20I of the ongoing series against Zimbabwe in Harare, Indian speedster Avesh Khan heaped praises on the newly appointed head coach of the Men's team, Gautam Gambhir, hailing the 42-year-old as ultimate team coach. 

Following a successful stint with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as mentor, Gambhir was roped in as the head coach of team India earlier this week to replace the departing Rahul Dravid.

Avesh currently plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but he has prior experience working alongside Gambhir, thanks to the stint with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in 2022 & 2023. 

On the eve of India's fourth T20I against Zimbabwe, Avesh heaped praises on the former India opener. 

“He would always designate the roles to the players, instead of being vague about people’s contribution to the team. He has always been a team coach, wanting every player to give their 100 percent," Avesh said at the pre-match press conference on July 12 (Friday).

The 27-year-old further revealed how he's been inspired by the new head coach's 'win at all costs' mindset.

“I have learned about the winning mindset from Gautam Gambhir. He would always want to beat the other team no matter what," Avesh said.

At a personal level, the ongoing T20I series against Zimbabwe has been a very successful one for Avesh. The right-armer is the joint-highest wicket-taker in the series with six wickets, and his scalps have come at an average of 13.83 at a healthy economy rate of 7.54.

Talking about the conditions in this series, the 27-year-old said, “The conditions are different for every game. We played the first two games on the same wicket. However, while it had a good bounce for the first game, it got fat for the second one.

“The conditions are good. As a bowler one should know how to bowl at every wicket and whenever I get the ball, I try to pick the wicket,” said the right-arm pacer who has bowled in all three stages of the game.

Avesh, who made his India debut in 2022, has played eight ODIs and 13 T20Is. But Avesh, who has been playing competitive cricket since 2014, has also been a standout bowler in domestic red-ball cricket in the past two years, having taken 65 wickets at an average of 21.1 in first-class games since the start of 2022. He came close to making his Test debut last year, having been picked in the series against South Africa, but narrowly missed out on selection.

Harbouring hopes of playing Test cricket, the Madhya Pradesh pacer said, “I am very excited about it. This is a format where I would like to prove myself. I have done it for my state team, India A and in the Dilip-Deodhar trophies. I am waiting for this chance because I enjoy bowling with the red ball and I have bowled 25 overs per day and some 300-350 overs per season.”

Jasprit Bumrah has been the talk of the town since the World Cup and Avesh couldn’t hide his love for the brilliant bowling of his fellow teammate. “Just like Virat Kohli said, he is a generational bowler and his style of bowling and thinking is very different,” Avesh said about Bumrah.

"He believes in execution more than anything else. Whenever I have talked to him he has always said that if you are thinking of bowling a yorker, then bowl a yorker and not a full toss or a half volley.”

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