Former England fast bowler Steve Harmison said he believed India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s remarks on milestones during the post-match press conference after India won the T20 World Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad were directed towards veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Harmison, with his usual sarcasm, said that he liked Gambhir’s dig at Rohit and Virat, and while he sometimes struggled with Gambhir as a player and a coach, he liked the shots being fired.
“I enjoyed that from Gambhir. I thought it was a little dig at Rohit and Virat, talking about not being interested in milestones and only about the team winning… I like that. I sometimes struggle with Gautam. I did struggle with Gautam as a player and I did struggle with him as a coach. But I liked that little dig at Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli,” said Harmison, speaking on the talkSPORT YouTube channel.
“We might have everything going in our favour, but it’s about the team. It’s about the dressing room, and it’s not about individual milestones. It’ll be interesting when they walk back into the 50-over dressing room in the not-too-distant future, hearing that. He has got some kudos now because he has just won a trophy,” he added.
Gambhir had emphasised his views on prioritising results and not running behind milestones. He said, “For too long in Indian cricket, we’ve spoken about milestones, and I hope, till I’m there, we’re not going to talk about milestones. You can see it very easily as well. You can see it in the last three games, what Sanju (Samson) did – 97 not out, 89 and 89. Imagine if you would have been playing for a milestone, probably we wouldn’t have got 250.
“So I think this is for you guys [media] as well. Stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies. That is going to be important, because the bigger purpose of a team sport is to be winning trophies. Scoring personal runs has never mattered to me, and it will never matter to me,” added Gambhir.
Harmison also , insisting that ’s team were far from being the best outfit in the tournament. He said that India succeeded better in clinching key moments in their matches and their win largely depended on the frenetic start provided by openers and Sanju Samson in the final after the Kiwis opted to field first.
“The Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson partnership largely won the final for India. Bumrah was the difference in the overall tournament on flat tracks. I don’t think India were the best team in this tournament. South Africa were the best team. India were the best ‘moment’ team. They won the best moments,” said Harmson.
