Can Gautam Gambhir unveil a new era for Indian cricket?

A new era dawns for Indian cricket in Pallekele on Saturday, 27 July. The T20 series in Sri Lanka marks the start of Gautam Gambhir’s journey as India’s coach and the exit of three stalwarts from the World Cup-winning T20 team. Can Gambhir replicate the bold and out-of-the-box approach that won him two IPL titles as captain and a third one as mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)?

Expectations are high following India’s World Cup victory in the West Indies last, a major international tournament win after a gap of 13 years. Gambhir now has the opportunity to rebuild the team to defend its T20 crown in 2026, when the World Cup will be held by India and Sri Lanka. He will also have a crack at the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia after India failed to clinch it at home in 2023.

The exit of three seniors from the Indian T20 side clears the table for Gambhir: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja have announced they will no longer play for India in T20s. Suryakumar Yadav is the new T20I captain.

Over the past few years, Kohli and Sharma had chosen to skip bilateral T20 series and return to the team for the World Cup. So their absence now will be nothing new. But emerging stars can hope to retain their hard-earned spots in the Indian team with good performances, instead of making way for the stalwarts when big tournaments come around.

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Apart from the two World Cups, Gambhir’s third major target will be to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Test cricket. This will require a hat-trick of series wins in Australia, after India beat the hosts in the last two tours Down Under. That’s a tall ask.

India’s first Test series win in Australia in 2018-19 came right after the banning of Steve Smith and Dave Warner for ball-tampering. Then a second string Indian side beset with injuries and unavailability of senior players beat a Tim Paine-led Australia in 2020-21. Australia have a more settled team now under Pat Cummins, and have won the World Test Championship last year.

India have two short Test series at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand before the Australia series begins in November. The return of Mohammed Shami—after surgery on his Achilles tendon kept him out of IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup—will be pivotal.

Although Gambhir has said he prefers players to be available for all three formats of the game if they’re good enough, his management of the workload of experienced pace bowlers will be a factor in deciding India’s prospects. Bumrah showed in the T20 World Cup and the Test series win over England just how vital he is to India’s attack in all conditions. And Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the ODI World Cup last year despite being left out of the first four matches.

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Both the pace bowlers are unsurpassed in their skill, accuracy, and wicket-taking ability. Gambhir will be hoping Bumrah retains his edge till the 2027 ODI World Cup, at which time he will be nearly 34. Shami is already 33 but he may also be able to pull on for another three years of Gambhir’s tenure with a good regimen of fitness, diet, and work-rest balance.

At the same time, Gambhir is known to take bold bets and he would want to build up the next generation of pace bowlers who can win matches for India. It is in this context that we should view his recommendation to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to recruit former South African speedster Morne Morkel as India’s bowling coach.

Morkel was in Gambhir’s KKR team that won IPL 2014. He was also the bowling coach at Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) where Gambhir was the mentor in 2022 and 2023, taking the new franchise to the playoffs in both seasons. Gambhir has gone on record to say the tall South African was the most dangerous fast bowler he ever faced.

The most exciting fast bowling prospect for India is Mayank Yadav. He lit up IPL 2024 with 155-kph rockets before being sidelined with injury. Currently undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) in Bengaluru, he could be included in the Test series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Yadav’s speed, accuracy, and bouncers could be an x-factor in Australia later in the year.

As for left-arm seam bowlers, Arshdeep Singh came good on the bowler-friendly pitches in the T20 World Cup. But he’s vulnerable on flatter pitches as his economy rate of 10 in IPL 2024 showed.An alternative could be Mohsin Khan, who made a great start in IPL 2022 at LSG where Gambhir was the mentor. But he hasn’t been the same bowler in the last two seasons after a rare aneurysm in his left shoulder.

India’s stock in spin bowling remains strong despite Ravindra Jadeja retiring from T20 internationals. Axar Patel is almost as good an all-rounder as Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav has been growing in confidence as a left-arm leg-spinner. Right-arm leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and googly exponent Ravi Bishnoi are competing for the third spinner’s slot.

It will be interesting to see if Gambhir persuades the selectors to bring back Varun Chakravarthy. The mystery spinner disappeared from the Indian squad after the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE where he was wicketless in three matches. But Gambir backed him at KKR where his 21 wickets in 15 games helped win the IPL 2024 title. Considering that the next T20 World Cup is at home, the conditions may suit Chakravarthy.

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The IPL has thrown up so many batting stars that Gambhir will be spoilt for choice. India’s T20 and ODI series in Sri Lanka starting on 27 July should give an insight into Gambhir’s thinking. Left-handers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma, and right-handed openers Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad all had good outings in Zimbabwe earlier this month. Two of them will replace Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who opened for India in the T20 World Cup.

Will Gambhir opt for a left-right combination or go for an all-out attack with Jaiswal and Sharma? The middle order is well stocked with talent, including the likes of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav, apart from two of the four openers probably converting their roles. Then there are the all-rounders Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya.

Gambhir’s success in IPL 2024 came from bold calls. He reinstated Sunil Narine as opener and gave him a free hand to structure the innings. He bid aggressively for Mitchell Starc, who started the season badly, but ultimately proved his worth as the IPL’s highest paid player, with match-winnings performances in the qualifier and final. Along with the other finalist, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), KKR remained aggressive throughout the tournament, with their batsmen going for shots and playing according to team requirements.

Gambhir can ruffle feathers because he has little time for the celebrity culture in India. He’s unafraid to call out inconvenient truths, such as Virat Kohli’s failure to win an IPL title for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in nine seasons as captain, and 17 seasons as a top-order batsman.

Their strained relations appear to have resolved, evidenced by a post-match hug during IPL 2024. But Gambhir will expect all his players to be selfless and risk-taking in the quest to win the 2027 ODI World Cup. Whether 35-year-old Virat Kohli remains in the reckoning for that remains to be seen.

Sumit Chakraberty is a writer based in Bengaluru.

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