Former India World Cup winner, Ravi Shastri has backed Gautam Gambhir to do well as the new Head Coach of the national team and suggested that the 2-time Indian Premier League-winning coach would bring in new ideas to the side.
Shastri who was the Indian Head Coach from 2017-2021 believes that while the current side might be fairly settled in terms, it would be great to bring in new ideas to keep the side in front in the long-term perspective to keep the Indian team on top.
“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. 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,” Shastri was quoted by Cricbuzz speaking on Gambhir on the ICC Review.
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“He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he’s the right age when he’s young, he’ll come up 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,” he added.
Gambhir, most recently was the mentor of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) where the franchise managed to claim their third IPL title in the 2024 edition in clinical fashion. Previously he mentored the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the 2022 and 2023 seasons where the side had made it to the playoffs.
Focus on Player Management
Shastri believes that Gambhir’s most important objective would be to develop a clear understanding of the players’ strengths and weaknesses to gain further clarity regarding his side. But the former Indian cricketer has backed the new Head Coach to have what it takes to get the job done looking back at his experience with his stints with KKR and LSG as a mentor.
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Shastri commented, “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. 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”,” he added.
Gambhir will begin his tenure as the head coach of the national team with the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. The Indian team will take part in a three-match T20I series that will take place in Pallekele followed by the three-match ODI series in Colombo.
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