Former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri has expressed confidence that Gautam Gambhir will infuse new perspectives into the national team as they embark on their white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, beginning in Pallekele this Saturday.
Gambhir, who recently led the Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in the IPL 2024 as their mentor, has been appointed as the new head coach of the Indian team, succeeding Rahul Dravid. Shastri believes Gambhir’s recent success and contemporary outlook will be beneficial. “He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he’s the right age where 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 also pointed out Gambhir’s no-nonsense attitude and the advantage of leading a seasoned team. “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 interesting times,” said Shastri on ICC Review show.
As a member of the 1983 ODI World Cup-winning team, Shastri is optimistic about Gambhir’s new role. “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 said.
Shastri emphasized that understanding each player’s strengths, personalities, and temperaments will be crucial for 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.”
“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.”
Gambhir’s initial challenge in T20Is will be to identify players who can fill the void left by the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja after their T20 World Cup victory earlier this year.
“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).
“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,” concluded Shastri.
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