Former India coach and noted commentator Ravi Shastri believes Gautam Gambhir can make an immediate impact in his new role as head coach because he’s a “contemporary” mentor and already close to the team.
As Gambhir faces the task of taking over from Rahul Dravid, who enjoyed a successful tenure at the helm following their recent triumph at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies, Shastri feels that the two-time World Cup-winning star can flourish in the job given that he takes over a relatively settled team and has recently tasted success when coaching Kolkata Knight Riders to this year’s title in the Indian Premier League.
“He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he’s the right age when he’s young, he’ll come with fresh ideas. He knows most of the players, especially in the white-ball format, having been part of teams in the IPL. So I think it’s refreshing,” Shastri said.
“And we know with Gautam, he’s a no-nonsense guy. He’ll have his ideas as well. And the good thing for him is he’s got a mature team. He’s got a settled team, a mature team. I think even though you might think you’re mature, you might benefit from some fresh ideas. So I think it’ll be an interesting times.
“Obviously, player management becomes the key as a coach. So it’ll be interesting to see how he goes. I think he’s got the tools, he’s got the goods for the job and he’s got the experience,” Shastri added.
Gambhir’s first task as India coach will be the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, starting Saturday, while further challenges await the 42-year-old in the form of next year’s ICC Champions Trophy tournament and qualifying for the 2025 ICC World Test Championship final.
A key to achieving the latter will be overcoming Australia on their home turf in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series starting in November.
There’s also the job of finding replacements in the shortest format for long-time stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after the trio retired from T20I cricket following India’s success at the T20 World Cup last month.
“There’s so many (good India) players out there and it’s just about getting the right mix. I think a lot of the players that won this T20 World Cup will still be around two years later (at the 2026 T20 World Cup),” Shastri noted.
“You mentioned the three players who were retired (Rohit, Kohli, Jadeja), but barring them, I think most of the others will be still fit to be in that T20 World Cup team two years down the line in India.
“So I don’t think there’s much to be done there. In fact, you will get a problem on your hands because you’ll have to choose from the new lot that’s coming and there’s some real exciting talent there. So I think it’s the other way around. It’s how do you get those guys in there that they’re bursting at the scenes to get it. There’s a queue out there and that will be his biggest challenge, but it’s a good headache when you have that kind of talent,” the former India captain was quoted saying in the ICC Review.
Shastri said working out how to manage each individual player will be pivotal to Gambhir’s success.
“It’s a question of just understanding his players as quickly as possible. What their strengths are, what kind of human beings they are and what kind of temperaments do they have? What are their personalities? A lot goes behind the scenes to understand a human being,” he said.
“I think that will be his most important task, which I think again should not be a problem because he’s contemporary. He’s seen these guys from the outside, he’s dealt with a lot of guys who might have played with KKR as well and for Lucknow (Super Giants) when he was there.
“And he’s been around the circuit, the moment he finished cricket and that was not too long ago, he still is around, plays a lot of the legends cricket as well,” the Mumbaikar added.