Sri Lanka v/s India: Gautam Gambhir says series against weaker opponents not going to help

Two dominating wins in two Tests in the series so far. Is the gulf between the two teams too wide?

There is a huge gap between the two teams, especially from the bowling attack's point of view. If the opposition makes 600 both the times, you can judge the quality of the attack.

Quality of the attack aside, the Indian batsmen had to still go out there and score the runs, isn't it?

Absolutely. When you get to 600, you've got to obviously give credit to the batters as well. You've got to go out and score the runs.

But again, winning the toss both the times really helped India as well. At the same time, I thought the Sri Lankan bowling was very, very mediocre. If you're playing a Test match with one seamer, you can imagine the strategy with which they were trying to play. On top of that, you end up losing the toss. So Day One of a Test match, you're starting with a spinner. It's a very defensive strategy. Had they been positive, they should have gone with five bowlers.

They still went with four bowlers, and that too three spinners and a seamer. So, I thought it was a very defensive mindset and too much dependence on winning the toss and batting. But then, if you don't win the toss, you would expect any opposition to run away with the game.

Will the runs and wickets in these series help in adding more self-belief into individuals as well as the team overall when India start touring abroad?

Absolutely not. Firstly because the conditions are different, and secondly because the bowling attacks are different. You don't expect Australia to play three spinners in Australia, do you? You don't expect South Africa to be playing three spinners. The fact is, they would be playing four seamers under different conditions, on bouncier wickets, and with a much better quality of attack. So, I don't think this (Sri Lanka series) is going to be of any help for the future when you tour South Africa, Australia or for that matter England.

Talking of individuals, Cheteshwar Pujara has been consistently churning out runs over the last couple of years. How does that man do that day in and day out?

Look, one thing which is really important to note is that he's playing only one form of the game. He can actually keep his mind pretty stable while playing and preparing only for five-day cricket. Had he been playing One-Dayers and T20Is as well, it would've been much more difficult for him, because sometimes you have to change your mindset. When you're not scoring runs in One-Day cricket, you go into a Test series not with the same confidence. But when you're playing just one format, it is easier to be consistent than someone who is playing all three formats.

He's a quality player, no doubt about that, but playing only one format definitely goes in his favour. And also playing County cricket ensures that his focus is always on red-ball cricket.

How much does playing English county in the off season really help a batsman, more so for someone like Pujara?

It keeps you in that frame of mind of playing four-day cricket and red-ball cricket as well, which is of a lot of help when you go into a Test match. You don't get enough red-ball cricket in India, especially when the IPL (Indian Premier League) is on. And, India play a lot of white-ball cricket. So, the only way you can get into that zone is either play county cricket or keep preparing with the red ball. But the best preparation is going to county and getting four-day matches, also under difficult conditions because in England the ball does a lot of things. So from county cricket when you come to Sri Lankan conditions, it always gets easier.

We always keep talking about the Kohlis and the Dhawans who dominate headlines. But, is Pujara the under-rated, unsung hero of Indian cricket, at least at the Test level?

That's the unfortunate thing. We don't give too much importance to Test cricket, and that is the reason. It is all about white-ball cricket and what people do in ODIs and T20s. But yes, when it comes to red-ball cricket, he is right at the top. Maybe far more consistent than Kohli or Dhawan.

With Dhawan coming back to form, you have four openers vying for two spots now: Dhawan, KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund...

It's a good headache to have. More the competition, the more it keeps players on the toes. But as I said, the biggest competition and the biggest challenge will be when you go to South Africa or England or Australia. You would expect your top three to score a lot of runs in Sri Lanka with the kind of bowling attack that they have. Especially in the second Test when you are batting on Day One with the opposition having three spinners. So, you expect people to get runs once you see off the new ball.

The challenge for any opening batsman is when you tour overseas, and that will only start now. If you see the last year or year-and-a-half, India have only played at home. Once they start touring abroad, that's when you'll get to know the actual competition for slots and where every individual stands.

Finally, what do you make of Hardik Pandya as a possible long-term seaming all-rounder from the two Tests he has played so far?

Look, he's got to improve a lot, especially when it comes to his batting. You can't just play one way. At the moment, he can do that because you have your top three and four scoring runs for you. So, you have the platform to go out there and play the way you want to. But ultimately, you have to tighten your technique because the moment you lose two-three wickets early, with him batting at No. 6 or 7, he has to have a little bit of solidity.

At the moment, according to me, he's not there yet. He needs to work a lot on his technical side. Maybe he can be an attacking option, but at the same time you need to have a solid technique for that as well. Right now, you can't compare his two or three innings because he has got the platform to play the way he wants to play.