Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team was a fait accompli after Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL title this year. It was a memorable ghar wapsi for Gambhir, who had captained the franchise to title wins in 2012 and 2014. Midway through the season, Rahul Dravid announced that he was not interested in an extension of his tenure, which cleared the path for Gambhir to take over.
While he boasts an impressive body of work in all three formats at the international and domestic levels, Gambhir’s task is onerous considering the hugely successful tenures of Dravid, and before him, Ravi Shastri.
Under Dravid, India reached the final of ICC tournaments in all three formats in a fascinating 18-month period, culminating in the T20 World Cup victory that finally broke a 13-year barren spell.
Under Shastri, India could not secure an ICC title, but they did win their first-ever series in Australia in 2018-19, followed by an astonishing repeat performance in 2020-21 with an injury-hit team that had looked like fodder for the revenge-hungry Aussies.
Against this backdrop, comparisons are inevitable. So, while Gambhir takes guard at a time when Indian cricket is riding a crest, expectations from India’s manic fans have also risen exponentially; fundamentally from players, of course, but also from the coach, who now plays such a crucial role in the sport.
The frequency with which coaches in Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have been dispensed with in recent times highlights how demanding the job can be. In this respect, Indian cricket has been more steadfast, not dumping coaches (and/or captains) with every setback. But this does not diminish the onus and pressure.
The Indian head coach job is arguably the most coveted and financially rewarding assignment in cricket today, but it is by no means a smug haven for a former player, however accomplished, to find refuge. The scrutiny on the results he produces is intense, harsh and continuous.
So, what are the challenges confronting Gambhir?
Striking up a good rapport with the captain, the critical decision maker in the middle, is paramount. The logic in this is simplistic, but a healthy symbiotic relationship is not necessarily automatic. It comes with effort. Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli, which looked like jodi No. 1 when forged, collapsed within weeks. A decade earlier, the bitter Greg Chappell-Sourav Ganguly fallout had roiled Indian cricket.
Incompatibility between coach and captain is not an Indian or subcontinental phenomenon as some argue. A couple of years back, the tug-of-war between Justin Langer and Pat Cummins exposed the heavily extolled and romanticised camaraderie of the Australian dressing room as myth.
Both coach and captain (justifiably, even more so) are power centres whose relationship can strongly influence dressing room dynamics, including camaraderie between players, team selection and effective deployment of tactics.
For instance, Shastri and Kohli were in complete sync about strengthening pace bowling to win Test matches, especially overseas. India’s Test record when they were in tandem is fantastic.
Dravid and Rohit recast the team’s approach in white-ball cricket, creating a new ethos that had implications on player selection and batting orders. Getting Kohli to open in the T20 World Cup with Rishabh Pant at one down, using Kuldeep Yadav as a strike bowler in the middle overs, and Axar Patel as a floater in the batting order paid rich dividends that might not have come if captain and coach were pulling in different directions.
In this aspect, Gambhir has a more daunting task as he will have to work with two captains. Splitting the captaincy and coaching is not uncommon in contemporary cricket, but it is a departure from the norm in India. Shastri and Kohli worked together in all formats, as did Dravid and Rohit. Gambhir will have to tune himself with two different leaders for different formats. Some players will overlap across formats, which can increase the ‘man-management quotient’ for both captain and coach.
Building the best combinations for different formats, in collaboration with the captain and the selectors, is another major challenge ahead for Gambhir. The retirement of Rohit, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja leaves India’s T20I team a trifle wobbly. Not weak, as India’s talent pool is rich, but missing the class and experience of these three. Getting the right players into the mix is key.
In the longer formats, too, team composition and forging winning combos demand clear vision, focused planning and strong decision making. Some players like R. Ashwin, Rohit and Kohli are in their late 30s, which is a vulnerable age. Managing their workload along with that of key bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami (who should be returning from a long injury break), will be critical to India’s prospects.
Big-ticket tournaments loom. Next year will see the Champions Trophy and the World Test Championship final. In 2026, the T20 World Cup will be played in India and Sri Lanka, and in 2027 comes the ODI World Cup. These afford India the opportunity to be considered among the great teams in history. This is even more pertinent in Test cricket, where India, despite looking the best team, have failed to win the WTC twice.
The coach’s role is vital in reaching such a pedestal.
There is no template nor a fixed personality type for being a successful coach. Shastri―aggressive, outspoken, often bombastic―had a ring-leader kind of persona that helped him inspire the best out of players in challenging situations. Dravid, measured and studied, was more subliminal, relying on processes, systems and data-led advance planning, yet not risk-averse when the situation demanded.
Gambhir―feisty, in-your-face and outspoken―has had some compunctions accompanying his candidature. He is aggressive, but also tactically astute and fiercely ambitious. If he strikes the right chord with his captains and players, he can leave a lasting impact on Indian cricket.