"There's going to be enough time to prepare for the pink-ball Test": Gambhir

Team India will figure in a daynight Test after four years when they front up to Australia at Adelaide on December 6 for the pink ball encounter But head coach Gautam Gambhir reckoned the nineday gap between the conclusion of the Perth Test and the contest in Adelaide will come in handy for his team to tackle the change in match conditionsHead coach Gautam Gambhir during yesterdayrsquos press meet PicSayyed Sameer AbedildquoWe have nine days before the pink ball Test and we have a twoday practice game against the Prime Ministerrsquos XI in Canberra on November 30 So I think therersquos going to be enough time for us to prepare for the pinkball Test Itrsquos going to be exciting That daynight is something which a lot of people actually look forward to because itrsquos a new thing Itrsquos a great venue to play the pink ball Test as wellrdquo said Gambhir in response to middayrsquos query on the challenges of playing a daynight Test after four years during a media conference on MondayAlso ReadICC holds its breath as PCB mulls hybrid model after India decline to travel to PakistanFocus on good preparationWhen asked about the challenges in the fiveTest series starting with the first Test in Perth on November 22 Gambhir said ldquoThe first and foremost challenge is obviously the conditions I think in 10 days if we can get good proper preparation before the start of the series we are going to be in really good shape Wersquove got a lot of experienced players whorsquove been to Australia a lot many times Their experience will come in handy for the young players as well So these 10 days are going to be very crucial But come November 22nd morning I think we should be absolutely ready to fire from ball onerdquoDull start for head coachGambhir who took over from Rahul Dravid as Team India head coach before the whiteball series against Sri Lanka last July suffered a 03 whitewash in Test series against New Zealand in home conditions recently He wants his boys not to think about personal milestones ldquoThe only conversation I have had with playersmdashbe it with the seniors experienced players or the youngstersmdashis to keep Indian cricket ahead of any other thing keep the team ahead of their personal milestones We will keep having the same conversation It is about the lsquoteam firstrsquo ideology philosophy as compared to any other thingrdquo remarked GambhirWTC mountainIf India need to secure a spot in the World Test Championship WTC final to be played at Lordrsquos in June next year they will need to win at least four out of the five Tests Down Under But Gambhir said he is not thinking about the Lordrsquos game ldquoWe are not even looking at whatrsquos going to happen in the World Test Championships or whether we are going to qualify or not ldquoEvery series is important when you play for your country For us itrsquos about two good teams taking on each other and we want to go out and give our bestrdquo Gambhir addedGambhir Ponting should stick to Australian cricketIndia head coach Gautam Gambhir has strongly supported outofform Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma after they copped criticism from Ricky Ponting The former Australia skipper recently questioned the form of Kohli and Rohit ldquoWhat does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket I think he should think about Australian cricket and more importantly we have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat and Rohitrdquo said GambhirldquoI think they Kohli and Rohit are incredibly tough men Theyrsquove achieved a lot for Indian cricket and will continue to achieve a lot in future as well For me the most important thing is that they still work really hard still passionate still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for merdquo Gambhir added