Gambhir Defends Selection Calls: My Job Is Right Decisions, Not Popular Ones

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has defended the team management's selection calls, saying his job is to take the right decisions rather than the popular ones.

Speaking ahead of the fifth T20I against New Zealand in Hamilton, he said: 'First of all, my job is not to make everyone happy.

My job is to take the right decisions, not the popular decisions.

And that is what I am there for.' The debate centres on teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who was left out of the playing eleven for the series finale in Hamilton.

Sooryavanshi played two matches in the series, scoring 4 in the second match and then 45 off 19 balls in India's win in the third match in Wellington.

But when Ishan Kishan returned from injury for the fourth match in Auckland, Sooryavanshi made way, and he sat out again in Hamilton, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma keeping the opening spots.

Gambhir said it is easy to take the popular decision in an age of social media chatter, but the important thing is to take the right decision and make sure there is security inside the dressing room.

He said players who have done phenomenally well over a longer period of time deserve a longer rope, and that is exactly how the team management approaches a series.

He also said there are no dead rubbers in his philosophy, even though India had already sealed the series before the final match.

India won the first three matches and then lost the last two, taking the series 3-2, and the focus now moves to the one-day series, which begins on 4 November in Auckland.