Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Gautam Gambhir has huge shoes to fill knowing that the two India head coaches before him had set the bar pretty high. Under Shastri, India became a force to be reckoned with, winning Test matches abroad and constantly challenging top teams on their home soil. The Shastri-Virat Kohli era may not have won an ICC trophy, but the fact that India ended as the top-ranked Test team five years in a row and lifted the ICC maze makes it a memorable period in Indian cricket. And of course, who can forget the fact that India became the only team to register back-to-back Test series in Australia when Shastri was in charge.
So yeah, Gambhir has a tough ask in front of him. We are yet to hear Rahul Dravid’s take on Gambhir’s appointment, but we have Shastri’s verdict, and it’s a confident one. The former India coach reckons Gambhir has the right ammunitions to assemble a team that can become world-beaters. Gambhir may not have served as a coach before but his experience of working with various IPL franchises and up close and personally with youngsters are the right means required to take Indian cricket forward.
“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 said on The ICC Review Show.
“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. 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.”
Understanding players quickly will be key: Shastri
As the Gambhir era officially begins on Saturday as India take on Sri Lanka in the 1st T20I in Dambulla, the former opener would be confident of a good show from his team. Most of the guys in India’s squad of 15 are players Gambhir either knows or played with. And hence, the communication shouldn’t be a problem. Obviously, there are some fresh faces Gambhir hasn’t worked with previously such as Shubman Gill or Shivam Dube, but Shastri is firm on his belief that GG would blend in nicely with every player.
“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,” added Shastri.
“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.”