CHENNAI: The Indian Premier League campaign by KKR, which resulted in them reaching the final, has once again cast Gautam Gambhir as a potential candidate for the head coach’s job with Team India.
The speculation that Gambhir may be chosen as the new coach was further fueled by Shah’s statement on Friday that no Australian applicant had been approached for the post by BCCI and “are focused on identifying individuals who possess a deep understanding of the Indian cricket structure and have risen through the ranks.”
Shah conceded this to mean that if it is not VVS Laxman from NCA then they would need an insider who knows how things are done in this system. But there still has not been any official offer or contact made between Gambhir and BCCI as yet since these sources implied that although “He is that kind of character who never shies away from a challenge.”
The question remains whether KKR will let go of their current mentor, Gambhir after this season’s victory. This feeling is “it will be decided in a private conversation between Shah Rukh Khan and Gambhir, if it comes to that.”
This poses a question; why is Gautham so hot within? He is yet to start his career in any junior (or domestic) coaching but he speaks what he thinks which sometimes does not go down well with cricket superstars’ ears at Indian dressing room.
Those who know him insist it is always “in your face” whatever former Delhi cricketer says. In 2011 he led KKR out of trouble twice over four years making them title winners. However, finishing seventh last season, they therefore still carry on into next year maintaining their hopes high.
“Gauti was an excellent captain when I played under him for those three seasons. Not just captain but maybe even as coach as well. Gauti didn’t care about numbers; he always gave credit for small things. In one such instance, he gave away his Man of the Match to (Bengal player) Debabrata Das for a cameo against CSK as KKR’s captain. Gambhir empowered each and every player who played under him because if he said something strongly then there should be some reason behind it,” Lashmipathy Balaji, ex Indian fast bowler and one of Gambhir’s chief lieutenants in the KKR team between 2011-13, told TOI.
Gambhir also pointed this out in his recent conversation with R Ashwin. “We get carried away by headlines. But we must never forget the first steps. Nobody ever talks about Zaheer Khan’s spell in the 2011 ODI final where he opened with figures of 5 overs – no runs conceded. This is what counts,” Gambhir told Ashwin.
He has been consistent with this approach even as a mentor at KKR too. While players like Sunil Narine, Phil Salt or Andre Russell have grabbed all the attention with their spectacular performance, Gambhir always has several minutes of appreciation for those like Venkatesh Iyer, Vaibhav Arora or Harshit Rana.
Another aspect of Gambhir’s captaincy and coaching requires an exclusive mention. Just before the 2012 IPL final against two-time champions CSK, Balaji got hurt and Gambhir had to drop a renowned opener like Brendon McCullum in order to accommodate little-known wicketkeeper batsman Manvinder Bisla for Brett Lee, an experienced overseas fast bowler.
“Picture how big that is – Bisla for Brendon in a final – and imagine the consequences of it going wrong. Yet Bisla played one of the best ever knocks in an IPL final. That’s what you call instinct and it all happened because Gauti was courageous enough to stick his neck out,” Balaji said.
Similarly, as mentor, Gambhir showed intuition when he shattered the bank to grab Mitchell Starc at Rs 24 cr during this year’s auction. The move was criticized; the Aussie pacer didn’t do too well initially but nonetheless Gambhir never stopped believing in him as did MS Dhoni with struggling Shane Watson in 2018 IPL.
When they faced Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 1 yesterday, Travis Head fell off Starc’s first delivery thus setting up a win that reminded everyone of Shane Watson’s century during last year’s IPL final.
