Gautam Gambhir: We should appreciate that Noida is hosting Duleep Trophy

The pink ball Duleep Trophy underway in Greater Noida is all that cricket fans in the city can talk about these days. Gautam Gambhir, who will be captaining India Blue – one of the three sides in the tournament – is set to arrive here today (August 27). We caught up with the former opener at an event in Delhi earlier this week, where he spoke about the expectations and nerves he might have about the pink ball cricket and why the floodlight failure in Greater Noida stadium during the opening game is not a big deal.
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Gautam said, “I’ve got no clue how the experience is going to be because it’s completely new, so can’t comment on it before playing.But yes, I’m excited about it. As for nerves, I’ve played enough cricket in my life, but you still get nervous there (on field). So I’m looking forward to this new innovation.”
Talking about the floodlights failure at the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Stadium on the opening day of the tournament, Gambhir said that it shouldn’t be a big issue as such a thing can happen anywhere. He said, “These things happen – not only in India, but everywhere in the world. We don’t need to blame Noida just because it’s a new centre for hosting cricket. I’ve seen such things happen in places like Australia and other parts of the world. The problem is that we make such an unnecessary hue and cry about such glitches.”
Gambhir added that if anything, Noida should be given its due for hosting such a big tournament. “We should appreciate that Noida is hosting such a big tournament for the first time. We should give them the praise they deserve. I’m looking forward to playing here,” he added.