VIDEO SHOWS: PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM INDIA COACH GAUTAM GAMBHIR AFTER 2-0 SERIES DEFEAT TO SOUTH AFRICA RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: GUWAHATI, ASSAM, INDIA (NOVEMBER 26, 2025) (BCCI – Must on screen courtesy BCCI. No use social media. No monetisation.) 1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA HEAD COACH, GAUTAM GAMBHIR, WHEN ASKED HOW TO QUANTIFY ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE BATTING COLLAPSES IN INDIA'S SERIES DEFEAT TO SOUTH AFRICA, SAYING: "That's a great question. I expected something like that. It comes from care. What you care about the dressing room, how much you care about the dressing room and the team. Because accountability and game situation can never be taught. Yes, you can talk about the skills, you can work on the skills, you can keep talking about the mental aspect of the game, but ultimately when you go in, if you keep putting the team ahead of your own self, not thinking, this is how I play and this is how I will get the results and this is how I play, I don't want to play the second, I don't have a plan B. So sometimes you will get these kinds of collapses as well. So for me, I think yes, accountability is important and more than the accountability, it's the care, how much you care about Indian cricket and how much you care about the team and the people sitting in the dressing room is important as well." 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA HEAD COACH, GAUTAM GAMBHIR WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE WAY FORWARD, SAYING: "Start prioritising test cricket if we are really, really serious about test cricket. And that is something which is important. That is going to happen overall, where everyone needs to be a stakeholder for that. So if we really care about test cricket, if we want test cricket to flourish in India, I think we got to have a collective effort to make that happen. Because just blaming the players, or just blaming the support staff, or just blaming certain individuals will not help. And as I just said, we can't put things under the carpet. Come the white ball formats. If you get runs in white ball format, suddenly you forget about what you've done in red ball cricket. That should never happen because red ball cricket is a completely different challenge to white ball cricket and is a completely different challenge from what you get in T20 cricket. There needs to be different skill sets. And more importantly, there need to be tough characters that are important to be a successful test side. You don't need the most skilful and the most flamboyant players to succeed in test cricket. You need the toughest characters with limited skills who will go on to succeed in Test cricket, irrespective of the conditions and what the situation is?" 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIA HEAD COACH, GAUTAM GAMBHIR, WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE DECISIONS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY IN THE SERIES AND WHETHER HE THINKS HE IS STILL THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB, SAYING: "There is, to be honest, there is no hindsight in sport. Whatever decisions we've taken, we've taken for the best interest of the team, and we absolutely believed that those were the right decisions which could get the job done for the country and for the team. And the second question, it is up to BCCI to decide. I've said it during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach, Indian cricket is important, I'm not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing. And yes, people can keep forgetting about it. I'm the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team. And I'm sure you guys will forget very soon because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand. And I'm the same guy who won, who won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup as well. Yes, this is a dream that has less experience. And I've said it before as well, that they need to keep learning and they're putting everything possible to turn the tide." STORY: South Africa completed a memorable 2-0 series sweep against India after off-spinner Simon Harmer claimed 6-37 to bowl the Proteas to a comprehensive 408-run victory in the second test in Guwahati on Wednesday (November 26). Chasing an improbable 549, India were all out for 140 in the second session on the final day, with only Ravindra Jadeja (54) offering resistance with the bat. Despite being the reigning world champions, few expected South Africa to dominate India in the way they did – winning the series opener in Kolkata inside three days before beating the hosts by 408 runs in the first-ever test at Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium. South Africa's first test series victory in India in 25 years looks even more special as it was achieved without pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada, who missed both tests with a rib injury. South Africa came prepared for spin-friendly wickets in India. Harmer was judged player-of-the-series for his haul of 17 wickets, including six in India's second innings in Guwahati. Head coach Gautam Gambhir reiterated the importance of the red-ball format at the post-match news conference, and his message was a simple one – start prioritising test cricket. India were unbeaten at home for 12 years until New Zealand beat them 3-0 late last year. The defeat to South Africa in Guwahati was India's heaviest in terms of runs. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)
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