Transition on the anvil, Gambhir may be perfect fit as India coach

Gautam Gambhir is the frontrunner for Team India head coach position

In 2013, after Gautam Gambhir was dropped from the Indian team, he returned to the grind of domestic cricket. As Delhi captain, it was easy for him to play the Ranji Trophy home matches on featherbeds, score a mountain of runs and knock on the Indian team door again. He chose to play on result-oriented pitches instead. He took on the Delhi cricket hierarchy and backed ‘outsider’ Navdeep Saini. He gave a new lease of life to Delhi cricket.

Cut to early March this year. Gambhir was giving his first team talk at Eden Gardens, after taking charge as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) mentor. “You guys are representing a very successful franchise,” he said to get the ball rolling. “Make sure you train that way, you play that way, and you carry that attitude onto the field.

“Everyone in this group will be treated equally. There is no senior-junior, there is no domestic-international. Because we have one mission, and that is to win this IPL.”

Gambhir’s cricket philosophy is about adhering to the collective and backing the youngsters to succeed. The likes of Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh would attest how their team mentor gave them the assurance to play fearless cricket without looking over their shoulder. In KKR's team talks, the Orange Cap and the Purple Cap were never mentioned. Their IPL triumph was resplendent in its team effort.

Gambhir will take this philosophy to the Indian team if he becomes the new India head coach, replacing Rahul Dravid. May 27 was the deadline for submitting applications and it is not known if the KKR mentor has applied for the post. After the IPL final, he had an on-field tête-à-tête with BCCI secretary Jay Shah, which sparked speculation.

Unlike KKR, the Indian team revels in its star culture, something that Gambhir prefers to keep at arm's length. So, will he be the right man to take up the job, if he is interested?

Before Gambhir, two India coaches had tried to take the star culture head-on, Greg Chappell and Anil Kumble. Both eventually fell prey to player power.

Gambhir’s advantage is that he is good at man-management. Also, the new coach's term will be from July to December 31, 2027. It means that he will have to oversee and manage transition, especially in white-ball cricket. The likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are on the wrong side of 35. Other players in the team are also in their 30s. Sooner rather than later, a new set of players will have to be ushered in and Gambhir could be a perfect fit to oversee the process.

In fact, it is learnt that, as the BCCI sounded him out, it seriously considered this aspect. Also, there's a feeling in some quarters that Gambhir’s winning mentality – he played vital innings in both India’s World T20 win (2007) and World Cup triumph (2011) – might help India end the ICC trophy drought.

In exclusive arrangement with RevSportz