Gautam Gambhir: The New Era Begins in Indian Cricket

Gautam Gambhir Era Begins

Gautam Gambhir, after a successful triumph with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, is all set to become the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team. Jay Shah, the secretary of BCCI, announced yesterday that Gautam Gambhir will be the new Head Coach of the Indian team. Gambhir will replace Rahul Dravid, who did a commendable job as a coach and ended his tenure by winning the T20 World Cup. This means Gambhir surely has to do well to fill his shoes.

This will be Gambhir’s first assignment as a coach. He worked as a mentor with Lucknow Supergiants in 2022-23. Under his mentorship, LSG performed well, making it to the playoffs in both seasons. Gambhir parted ways with LSG before 2024 and rejoined KKR, the team he led to 2 titles in 2012 and 2014. His return saw some bold steps, like buying Mitchell Strac for 24.75 crores, pushing Sunil Narine back to the top order, and as a result, KKR won the IPL with sheer dominance.

During the IPL season, BCCI announced the vacancy for Head Coach, and Gautam Gambhir, who was serving as a Member of Parliament from the Bhartiya Janata Party, had taken a break from his political career. So, the assumptions were there that Gautam Gambhir might be the first choice for the Head Coach.

Aggressive nature and out of box thinking

Gambhir is known for his aggressive nature of playing and some out-of-the-box thinking. As a player, Gambhir was one of the best left-handers India ever had. He was the man who always stood up on big stages. He scored 75 in the 2007 WT20 final against Pakistan and 97 in the 2011 ODI WC final against Sri Lanka. The southpaw always delivered when his team needed him the most.

During his captaincy role with KKR, he made some solid decisions like pushing Sunil Narine to the top of the order. Suryakumar Yadav, who is currently the best T20 batter, also made his debut under Gambhir’s captaincy. He always focused a lot on combinations and believed in all-rounders like Rajat Bhatia, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, etc. A similar approach was seen when he joined hands with LSG. In the inaugural season, LSG had one of the best sides with all-rounders like Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, etc., and as a result, both years, LSG made it to the qualifiers.

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There is news that Gambhir has asked for Abhishek Nayar as the batting coach and Vinay Kumar as the bowling coach in his unit. Abhishek has been with KKR and has been superb in his coaching role.

Gambhir will wear the coaching hat from the next ODI series against Sri Lanka. While senior players might be on rest, Gambhir might have to start his career with either KL Rahul or Hardik Pandya being the captain of the side. It will be interesting to see the brand of cricket that Gambhir brings to the team.

Also Read: Hardik Pandya: A Rising Star in the World Cup Cricket