File phot of India coach Gautam Gambhir© AFP
Gautam Gambhir took charge as the Indian cricket team coach in July 2024. In the two years at the helm, Gambhir has won the Champions Trophy 2025, the 2026 T20 World Cup as well as the Asia Cup 2025. However, his tenure has also been marked by Test series losses at home against South Africa and New Zealand. India also lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His tenure also saw the high-profile Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In T20Is too, India lost two back-to-back series against Ireland and England.
Mohammed Kaif and Zaheer Khan were asked about Gambhir’s tenure as coach. Here’s what they said.
“I will deduct marks. I will rate him 4 out of 10. You are talking about transparency, right? There are a lot of talks about Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. That picture is not becoming clear. It’s not clear whether they are talking or not. You can see he is talking with (Shubman) Gill and Rohit (Sharma). It is the responsibility of the coach to communicate with the player if there is any problem, to keep everyone on the same page,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“There will be wins or losses, but that communication is important. If one player is dropped, the reason behind it should be clear. If Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir are not working together, this is not good news for us. If they are not on the same page, it is bad news for the fans of Indian cricket. We are talking about the 2027 World Cup; you need the support of seniors. The coach needs to talk with the seniors. When we played under John Wright, he was transparent. I am deducting marks for that. He had a chance to do more with this team.”
Zaheer said: “Under his leadership, we have won the T20 World Cup. His highs are also there. I will give him 6. As far as improvement, transparency and communication are concerned, it is a work in progress. You can call it a concern. Whenever you talk about Indian cricket, one thing you will see is talent and ability. You have all the ingredients. How to use them and make the best out of them is up to you.”
Recently, according to a report, Gambhir and Kohli were notably not interacting with each other ahead of the first India vs England ODI, despite the India coach spending a lot of time with other members of the squad.
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