Gautam Gambhir, the new Head Coach of Team India Cricket Team, brings with him the dreams of India, which had just won the T20 World Cup.
During his tenure, this 42-year-old, left-handed skilled batsman scored over 10000 runs internationally across all three formats in cricket, and also played a key role in the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.
After celebrating India’s great victory in the T20 World Cup, Rahul Dravid, head coach of Team India announced his retirement and Gambhir will be the new head coach of Team India. After the 2013 Champions Trophy, this is India’s first global victory.
The upcoming away series against Sri Lanka, which has 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs, officially begins Gautam Gambhir’s tenure. On July 16, before the upcoming series, Star Sports posted a video on X, where Gautam Gambhir discussed the balanced mix of players in the team, where Irfan Pathan, Kumar Sangakkara, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and many former cricketers were present.
India’s Head Coach Gambhir’s approach to the team selection:
Gautam Gambhir says in that video, “First you need to identify players, who have got their fearless approach as well, probably in a format like 50 overs. You need to have a mixture of every type of player. You need players who can anchor as well. Change in the rule has made a huge difference. During that time, you only had one new ball, now you have got two new balls with five players inside. So, the role of a part-timer has gone out of the window. You don’t see enough reverse swing. You don’t see enough purchase for the finger spinners as well.”
“But I always feel, when you talk about this new approach, you got to identify players who can adapt to those roles, or to that template very easily. Some people just cannot adapt to a template so why push them to play a certain way which doesn’t come naturally to them? So, for me identifying players and at the same time getting the right mix is very, very important rather than thinking that we have to play in a certain template, so we have to select all the 15 with a similar mindset or a similar template.”
Why is it important to have a balanced mix of players in a team?
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 16, 2024
How have rule changes affected selection?
📹 | Watch Team India Head Coach, @GautamGambhir, discuss team formation, new approaches, and player identification.#MenInBlue #Cricket pic.twitter.com/bMoiJf08Cm
Gambhir will face a significant number of hurdles during his term as Team India’s head coach. His leadership abilities will be put to the test early on, with the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 slated for February-March.
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As the squad prepares for the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25, the pressure will increase. Gambhir will be responsible for coaching the squad through the ICC T20 World Cup in 2026 and the ODI World Cup in South Africa in 2027.
Gambhir is the only Indian to achieve a century in five consecutive Test matches, joining Don Bradman, Jacques Kallis, and Mohammad Yousuf.
