Shardul Thakur played two Tests on the recent England tour.
Following India's Test defeats, first in the home series against New Zealand last year and then during the tour of Australia, Thakur was asked about the criticism leveled at Gambhir.
Thakur acknowledged that there will always be criticism, but that Gambhir has given the team new life and motivation, and that the team is headed in the right direction.
“Yes, we have always seen him as a player who is willing to fight for the team, and even during the huddles, he transferred that energy into us, the one that he brought into the field during his playing days.
He (Gambhir) is an achiever who has won trophies for the nation and the state. And he brings all those experiences and motivations into the team. Criticism will come and go, but as a team, winning matters, and I believe we are heading in the right direction when it comes to that," Thakur told RevSportz.
Thakur thought back on how the youthful Indian squad, led by new Test skipper Shubman Gill, was able to draw with England for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He praised Gambhir for boosting the team's confidence despite pointing out that the team lacked experience following the retirements of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
“When your backs are against the wall, there is no going back, and that was the situation, having two of the most senior pro players [Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma] retiring from the game and not having Mohammed Shami in the squad. The bit of experience this team had was in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. The batting unit was fairly inexperienced, except for KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant," Thakur added.
Thakur endured a below-par tour of England, featuring in two games where he managed just 46 runs and picked up two wickets across three innings.
Thakur said that he was in the same boat as Kuldeep Yadav and Abhimanyu Easwaran on the England tour. While Shardul played two tests, Kuldeep and Easwaran didn't get even a single match on the tour.
“On a few occasions, I was also in the same boat, being out and not getting enough games to show my potential. So yes, as a player, you go through a lot of emotions, and it's not easy to sit out. At some point, you'll feel bored and start questioning, 'What am I doing here? I'm not getting a game.’ But at the end of the day, there are two things, like I said before. First, not everyone is privileged enough to be on the Indian side; everyone will agree on that. And the second thing is, unfortunately or fortunately, the competition is so high in India. There are so many players, and only 11 of them play at the end of the day. Correct," Shardul said on RevzSports.
Shardul Thakur, who made his India Test debut in 2018, has played 13 tests overall, taking 33 wickets and scoring 377 runs. He has also appeared in 47 ODIs and 25 T20Is.