India, Aug. 22 -- Under Gautam Gambhir's watch, India's showings in Test cricket have been sluggish. When this was pointed out to the head coach on the eve of the Colombo Test, he jumped in before the question was completed in his usual take-no-prisoners fashion. "Not at all. We are not struggling that much," he said.

"Rankings do not matter," he added. "We are going through transition and I am sure people sitting in the press box and commentary box know that. And despite that, there will be blips, there will be ups and downs. But since the England tour, we have been reasonably consistent in Test cricket. You guys can go by rankings. We know that we are heading in the right direction."

To those who know, Gambhir has always looked at the...