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The suspense around Team India's next head coach finally ended when former batter Gautam Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid on Tuesday, July 9. Gambhir helped India win the 2007 and 2011 T20 and ODI World Cups during days with match-winning performances in the final.
He then helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win the IPL title in 2012 and 2014 before becoming the mentor during their triumph this year. As for Dravid, he took over a strong Indian unit at the end of 2021 and ensured the side remained the dominant force in all formats.
Under Dravid, India reached the World Test Championship (WTC) and ODI World Cup final last year and won the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA.
One look at Gambhir and Dravid's playing careers conveys how starkly contrasting they are even if the central goal was the same- help Indian cricket reach stratospheric heights.
While it is impossible to accurately guess how Gambhir carries himself as a coach and what his ideas and methodologies will be, it is safe to assume vast differences between his and Dravid's coaching style.
On that note, here are three things Gambhir might do differently to Dravid as India's head coach.
#1 Winning trophies over winning people
Before expanding on this, here's a disclaimer - the detailing for this bit is subjective upon observations of Dravid and Gambhir in different roles over the years.
We've seen Gambhir repeatedly mention how the 'star culture' in India must be admonished for the overall betterment of the team. He has also recently said how only winning matters to him over people's perceptions.
On a YouTube chat show with Ravichandran Ashwin, Gambhir said:
"Sometimes when people talk about – he doesn’t smile. He doesn’t love. He’s always intense. He’s always grumpy. He’s always walking on the edge. He’s old. He always has his game face on. People don’t come to watch me smile. Unfortunately, people come to watch me win."
On the other hand, Rahul Dravid, while being hell-bent on winning, was also cautious of building relationships and being well-liked.
In a recent interview, here is what he said about coaching as quoted by The Statesman:
"As a coach at the end of the day my job is to help the captain deliver his vision, his philosophy of how he wants the team to play. I don’t really like talking about results. I like to believe that coaching is not just about coaching cricket. This is about building connections with the people and creating the right environment that allows for success."
It is clear as day and night that while Dravid and Gambhir want what's best for Indian cricket, the former wasn't always about results over relationships and likeability.
However, Gambhir has a more win-at-all-costs approach, even if he is often perceived rightly or wrongly as unlikeable.
#2 Selection on form over reputation
Here's a hypothetical - Would Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been part of India's 2024 T20 World Cup squad if Gautam Gambhir was the coach instead of Rahul David?
The legendary duo hadn't played T20Is for India since their semi-final loss in the 2022 T20 World Cup until the end of 2023. Yet, as the 2024 T20 World Cup drew closer, Rahul Dravid and the management did away with all the building up of a younger core to welcome Rohit and Virat back in the mix even after their long hiatus.
Now, all is well that ends well and the move worked wonders for India during their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. But it is worth pondering how a Yashasvi Jaiswal or a Shubman Gill felt not playing a single game in the tournament after featuring in India's T20I lineup for most of 2023.
An educated guess tells us that, for right or wrong, reputation and records will likely have no bearing compared to recent form and continuity under Gambhir.
#3 Starring in a role heralded as much as established superstars
Remember Gautam Gambhir's post-match gesture to Debabrata Das in IPL 2012? Yes, Debabrata Das.
After leading KKR to a thrilling win over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with a 52-ball 63, Gambhir was adjudged the Player of the Match. Yet, in a classy act, the skipper gave away his award to Debabrata Das for his four-ball 11* to take the side over the line.
"My MoM is Debabrata Das, to be honest it's not about how you start, its about how you finish. He is a star in the making, one to look out for," said Gambhir.
While Dravid has often been an underdog and an underrated player throughout his career, he wasn't as expressive in praise about the blue-collar cricketers on the side. On the other hand, trust Gambhir to ensure a Shivam Dube or a Rinku Singh gets equal if not more roses thrown at them as a top-order batter scoring centuries.
The smaller contributions by numbers from those that bat later in the order, which often end up being the difference makers, go unnoticed in selection and awards. But with Gambhir as head coach, expect a crucial cameo like Dube's 16-ball 27 in the recent T20 World Cup final to be recognized as much as Virat Kohli's 76 or Jasptir Bumrah and Hardik Pandya's late-game heroics.
