India head coach Gautam Gambhir asserted that he's under no social media pressure and feels it's an absolute honour to coach the Indian cricket team despite the setbacks in recent times.
Gambhir stated this at the pre-departure media conference ahead of India's tour of Australia which begins on November 22 with the first Test in Perth.
"What difference does social media make in my life?..Nor does it make any difference in anyone's life?..And when I took up this job I knew that this is going to be a prestigious job and highly difficult job. I don't think I'm feeling the heat because my job is to be absolutely honest and there are some incredibly tough people in that dressing room who have achieved some great things for the country and will continue to achieve some great things. So its an absolute honour coaching them and coaching India."
Dwelling on the topic of skipper Rohit Sharma's availability for the first Test, Gambhir was non-committal and said there would be clarity closer the Test.
"At the moment there is no confirmation, but we will let you know. Everything we will let you know at the start of the series. Hopefully he is available."
The India coach also revealed he was focused on winning the series and was not thinking about the World Test Championship (WTC) Final scenario.
"Honestly, we are not looking at the WTC final. Whether we qualify for not, every series is important, that's as simple as it can get. Irrespective of what has happened in the past."
Talking about India's alternate opening options in the absence of Rohit for the first Test, Gambhir said they had enough options.
"Easwaran, KL available for the first Test in case Rohit is not available. So options are there, its not that there are no options. Once we get closer to the first Test, we will try and pick the best playing XI for the match,'' he added.
Gambhir felt India had enough preparation time for the Day-Night Pink Ball Second Test in Adelaide starting on December 6.
"There are nine days time before the Pink Ball Test and there is a two-day game against the Prime Minister's XI, so there is going to be enough time for us to prepare for the Pink Ball Test match which a lot of people actually look forward to,'' he added.
Young pacer Harshit Rana has been drafted into the squad and Gambhir backed his selection.
"He had played a First Class game against Assam and he had done reasonably well there in that game. So he had enough bowling under his belt rather than playing another First Class game. We want him fresh, since its going to be a long tour, its a five-Test match series and the bowling coach and physios felt he had enough under his belt, so he's in the team."
Gambhir also felt the main challenge leading upto the first Test would be the conditions.
"The main challenge is obviously the conditions as compared to when you are playing in India. So that is one of the challenges. So in ten days, if we get good proper preparation, then we will be in a good shape to perform. And we have players who have been to Australia a lot many times, so obviously their experience will come in handy on many occasions as well,'' the coach added.
Gambhir conceded India were outplayed in the New Zealand series at home recently.
"The learnings are that we have been outplayed. I'm not going to sit here and defend. We were outplayed in all three departments, they were more professional. And we accept that. We keep moving forward and keep getting better every day. My relationship with Rohit has been incredible. Three Test matches before, we had an incredible Test match in Kanpur as well. So that doesn't change anything. It's a new opponent so we will look to win the series."
