Ravi Shastri says Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as India’s new head coach is “refreshing” since he is “contemporary” and has “fresh ideas”. “He’s contemporary, and he just had a great season in the IPL,” Shastri said about Gambhir during the ICC Review.
Gambhir takes over from Rahul Dravid following India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign. And his first job will be a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. It will begin with three T20Is on Saturday in Pallekele. Gambhir takes over in all formats following an IPL success with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), where he was the team manager. He was praised for rallying the players and restoring Sunil Narine to the bat. Among other things, Gambhir bolstered the confidence of newcomer Harshit Rana.
Shastri on Gambhir’s Key Challenges
Shastri feels the 42-year-old Gambhir can make an instant effect in his new post since he is already familiar with the team, having played with and coached several players. “We know Gautam is a no-nonsense man. He’ll have some thoughts as well. The good news for him is that he has a mature team. He has a settled, mature crew. I believe that even if you consider yourself mature, you could profit from some new ideas. So I believe it will be interesting times.”
With the Indian squad, he will be in charge of coaching both junior and senior players across formats. “As a coach, it is obvious that player management is crucial,” Shastri commented. “It will be fascinating to see how he does. I feel he has the right equipment, commodities, and experience for the task.” According to Shastri, Gambhir’s “most important task” will be to understand his players as persons and their “temperaments”.
“It’s just a matter of understanding his players as soon as possible,” Shastri explained.”What are their strengths, personality types, and temperaments? What about their personality? A lot happens behind the scenes to understand a person. I believe it will be his most essential duty, which shouldn’t be an issue because he is current,” he continued.
Shastri’s Trust in New Talent
Gambhir’s biggest Test assignments will be the five home Tests beginning in September (two against Bangladesh and two against New Zealand), followed by five Tests in Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy. In the white-ball formats, he plans to compete in the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the T20 World Cup in 2026.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja have all retired from T20I cricket. But Shastri does not see this as a problem for India, considering the resources available on the margins. “I believe that many of the players that won the T20 World Cup will still be around two years later,” he said. “You named three retiring players, but aside from them. I believe the majority of the other players will be fit to play in India’s T20 World Cup two years from now.
So I don’t feel there’s anything to do there. You’ll have a difficult decision to make because you’ll have to choose from the new batch, which includes some very promising talent. I think it’s the other way around. It’s how you get those guys in there who want it so bad. There’s a queue out there, which will be his toughest difficulty, but it’s a nice headache when you’re that talented.” Ravi Shastri concluded.
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