Sunil Gavaskar Hails India's Dominance Against New Zealand As T20 World Cup Preparation: 'Not Taking Anything For Granted'

Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar believes that India's dominant performance against New Zealand is more than just a routine bilateral success with an early warm-up for the Men in Blue's T20 World Cup title defence.

India's unassailable 3-0 lead, courtesy of an eight-wicket win in Guwahati, has Gavaskar convinced that they're on the right track

"This series is like an appetiser; the main course begins from the 7th of February," Gavaskar said while speaking on the JioHoststar show.

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"Having won the series, the focus now is on defending the World Cup title. These players are preparing thoroughly. Some of them haven't even had the chance to bat, so they are working on range-hitting, timing, rhythm, bat flow and pick-up. It shows the focus of this team; they are not taking the World Cup lightly and not taking anything for granted," he added.

Gavaskar praised India's focus and practice, stating that some players are working on their range-hitting, indicating a powerful intent to defend their title.

"India has complete confidence in itself. When you have players like Rinku Singh and Hardik Pandya batting down the order, and they haven't even needed to bat in two matches, and India is still winning comfortably, it tells you the kind of calibre this team has," he said.

The 76-year-old further noted that the current batting approach is tailor-made for T20 cricket, with the team's aggressive intent.

"In a 20-over game, if a batter tells himself that he has five or seven overs, he can look to score off almost every ball. It doesn't always have to be a boundary or a six, it could be a couple of runs, but the idea is to make every ball count. That belief is clearly visible. Even if there is a small stumble, this team knows it can recover, regroup, and continue marching towards victory," he added.

He also underscored Abhishek Sharma's instantaneous rise and record-breaking potential, drawing comparisons with former India hard-hitting batter Yuvraj Singh.

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"I think that kind of a record is very, very hard to beat. Getting to a fifty in just two overs is extremely tough. But what Abhishek Sharma has shown over the last several matches is that he is capable of doing that," he said.

"He has scored a fifty in 14 deliveries in this match and in 16 deliveries on another, so he keeps getting closer. I think the happiest person will be Yuvraj Singh. Make no mistake about it, that his record has been taken by someone he is mentoring," Gavaskar added.