• Source:JND
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Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has made his thoughts clear on what lies ahead of the marquee T20 World Cup 2026 scheduled to take place in India in the month of February. Gambhir, who is currently in Kolkata for the start of the first Test between India and South Africa, stated that the Indian cricket team is not where it "wants to be" in terms of its preparations for next year's T20 World Cup. However, he stressed the fact that there is enough time for the side to finish their preparations.

In a video released by the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India), Gambhir also spoke about how players should realise the importance of staying fit ahead of the tournament.

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"It has been a very transparent dressing room, it has been a very honest dressing room and that is how we want this dressing room to be. I think we still aren't where we want to be come the T20 World Cup," he said in the 46-second clip which will be followed by the full interview later in the day.

Hopefully, guys know the importance of being fit. We still have three months to be where we want to be," he added.

He reiterated his philosophy of handing out tough assignments to individuals to understand the depth of their character.

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"Throw guys in the deep sea, as simple as it can get. We did the same with Shubman (Gill) as well when he was appointed as Test captain," he said.

Gill pulled off an inspired batting performance in his maiden Test series, against England, as captain. The Indian team under him drew the series 2-2 after every match stretched to the fifth day with fortunes oscillating wildly throughout.

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India will be up against South Africa in a full-fledged series consisting of 2 Tests, 3 ODIs, and five T20I matches. The Test series starts on Friday (November 14).

Squads:

India Test squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.

South Africa Test Squad: Temba Bavuma (C), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and Kyle Verreynne.

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