England are a world-class and quality side: Gautam Gambhir

Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has called the England national cricket team, led by Harry Brook, a ‘world-class and quality side’ ahead of the much-anticipated semi-final clash in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.

Speaking at the post-match press conference after India’s five-wicket win over the West Indies, Gambhir stated that he is expecting another good show from the Indian team in the knockout against England on Thursday, March 5 in Mumbai.

"England are a world-class team, they're a quality team, they've got a lot of quality players as well and we all know that Wankhede is a tough venue. Hopefully, we can turn up and see that we have another opportunity to do something special for the team, for the country and hopefully we play our best game as well. That is going to be very important," Gambhir said.

Also, Gambhir went on to clear that every player’s performance in the team is very crucial, adding that had Shivam Dube not scored a couple of boundaries in the 19th over of the 196-run chase against the West Indies, no one would have spoken about Sanju Samson’s match-winning knock.

"Had Shivam Dube not smashed a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over, no one would have spoken about Sanju Samson's match-winning 97 against West Indies on Sunday," Gambhir added.

"For many years, we've only spoken about certain contributions. This is a team sport, and this will always remain a team sport," he stated.

"For me, Shivam's two boundaries are as important as Sanju's 97 because if he hadn't hit those two boundaries, you won't even have spoken about it (97-run knock). The big contribution makes headlines. The small contribution, the contribution that can help the team win, cross that line, are very important. And that's why I say that this is going to be the philosophy going forward till I am there,” he concluded.

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