Secured atmosphere makes me confident and successful: Gambhir

Karachi: Young opener Gautam Gambhir on Friday credited his success in Twenty20 and one-day cricket to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who provided a secured atmosphere in the team and increased his confidence.

"I give the captain a lot of credit he has provided me and the other players a lot of confidence and I want to keep on improving," Gambhir told reporters in Karachi on Thursday.

"When you are secure in the team you enjoy your cricket and you are more confident," he added.

Gambhir also said he did not care about what the public said. "Ultimately it is you and your teammates that matter, you have to go out there and keep on performing," he added.

The Delhi cricketer said his ultimate dream remained to "play Test cricket and make a permanent place" for himself in the longer version side.

Gambhir has played in 14 Tests but has been a sure selection for Twenty20 and one-day cricket in recent times. He has so far appeared in 52 one-dayers for India.

Asked about his frequent sledging matches with Pakistani players, Gambhir said he wanted to retaliate when things come from other side.

The left-hander said opening and batting with Virender Sehwag, also his Delhi teammate, was a great feeling and experience.

Yuvraj Singh, also present on the occasion, said passion and the will to win against Pakistan made it a different thing and it worked well for him and kept him going. The exciting batsman to a question said he didn't like to compare himself with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi.

"The passion and following for boom-boom Afridi will never end. I do the big hitting occasionally and he does it consistently," he said.

Both the left-handers talking on the Indian Premier League said it was a great event.

"IPL provides a lot of opportunity and a lot of players have come forward after playing in the competition which is a good thing," Gambhir said.