“Biggest reasons why we have not won a ICC tournament,” Gautam Gambhir criticizes hype surrounding personal milestone after KL Rahul missed his century

While Kohli was dismissed for 85 runs, Rahul remained unbeaten and missed his ton by three runs.

“Biggest reasons why we have not won a ICC tournament,” Gautam Gambhir criticizes hype surrounding personal milestone after KL Rahul missed his century

Gautam Gambhir, KL Rahul (Images via X)

India batter KL Rahul played a breathtaking innings when India squared off against Australia in their campaign opener of the ODI World Cup on Sunday (October 8) in Chennai. Rahul and Virat Kohli came in clutch to slowly snatch the victory from the Aussies but both the batters, after scoring their respective fifties, missed reaching the three-figure mark.

While Kohli was dismissed for 85 runs, Rahul remained unbeaten and missed his ton by three runs. In 115 balls, he scored 97* runs with eight fours and two sixes.

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The chatter after India’s nervy six-wicket win was of Rahul missing his century. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir criticized the hype surrounding personal milestones. He believes the reason why India are not able to lift any ICC cups is due to the obsession with stats.

“If you score 30, 40 or even 140, what matters in the end is whether the team won or not. I think our obsession with stats is one of the biggest reasons why we have not won a ICC tournament in so many years,” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.

Related: “Someone who will fight till the last delivery,”- Sachin Tendulkar expresses happiness over Ravichandran Ashwin’s inclusion in World Cup squad

Gautam Gambhir defends Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer after their flop shows

In that match against Australia, some youngsters appeared in their first-ever World Cup. Among them were Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and Mohammed Siraj.

"Biggest reasons why we have not won a ICC tournament," Gautam Gambhir criticizes hype surrounding personal milestone after KL Rahul missed his century
Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (Images via X)

Following the Indian bowlers’ remarkable performance where they restricted the Aussies to 199, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood turned the table by sending three top-order batters (Rohit Sharma, Kishan, and Iyer ) to the dugout for zero runs. However, Gambhir defended Kishan and Iyer because they were playing their first-ever World Cup game.

The 2011 World Cup winner said when a player appears in his first-ever match in such a big tournament, nerves come into play. He recalled his experience when he played his first World Cup match in Dhaka in 2011 where he was very nervous but calmed himself down after playing the first ball.

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