Fact-Check: “Stop Celebrating Milestones” — Did Gautam Gambhir Really Take a Dig At Virat Kohli After T20 World Cup?

India continued their dominance in white-ball cricket with an emphatic win over New Zealand in the final of the T20 World Cup 2026. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side defeated the Blackcaps by 96 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to win a historic third T20 World Cup title. 

The Indian head coach did not shy away from reiterating his strongest philosophy that trophies and wins matter more than personal milestones of individual players. In the last three games, Sanju Samson, in particular, had come close to scoring a century, but the opening batter continued playing with intent, resulting in his dismissal. It was a perfect example of Gambhir’s philosophy. 

Gautam Gambhir takes a dig at Virat Kohli

His comment on ‘stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies’ drew reactions on social media platforms. Many fans on the internet took his comment to be an indirect dig at former Indian skipper, Virat Kohli. Kohli, in the past, had received criticism from some of the former players for prioritising scoring centuries by going slower than usual when approaching the triple-figure mark.

Gambhir in the press conference, said, “Stop celebrating milestones, celebrate trophies.” “That is going to be important because the bigger purpose of a team sport is to be winning trophies, not scoring individual runs. It has never mattered to me, and it will never matter to me,” he added. 

However, there was no indications whether it was a dig at Virat Kohli. Since becoming the coach of the Indian team, Gambhir has praised Kohli for his knocks. The Indian head coach will be banking on Kohli come the ODI World Cup next year in South Africa. 

Surya agrees with Gambhir

Gambhir talked about how the current Indian skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, also agrees with the head coach when it comes to prioriting team’s success over personal achievements. He said, “I think my simple philosophy with Surya has always been that milestones don’t matter. It’s the trophies that matter.” 

“You can see it in the last three games, what Sanju did. Imagine if you would have been playing for a milestone, probably we wouldn’t have got 250,” Gambhir added while citing the example of Sanju Samson’s knocks in the last three games of the tournament which included a virtual quarter-final against the West Indies, semi-final against England, and the final against New Zealand. 

Also Read: Sanju Samson Clicks Adorable Pictures With His Wife Charulatha Ramesh After Winning Player Of The Tournament Award In T20 World Cup 2026 – Watch VIDEO