Days after taking over the responsibility as team India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who takes the hot seat, has huge shoes to fill, as previous coaches, Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, set high standards.
During Ravi Shastri's tenure, the Indian cricket team won Test matches abroad and challenged top teams on their home soil. Although India did not win any ICC trophies under Shastri's coaching, it was the top-ranked Test team for five years in a row.
And Rahul Dravid ensured India reached two back-to-back World Test Championship finals, became a World Cup finalist in 2023 and became the T20 World Champion in 2024.
Dravid has not yet spoken on Gambhir's appointment; however, Ravi Shastri's verdict is clear and confident. Shastri believes Gambhir has the right ammunition to assemble a team that can become world-beaters.
“He's contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he's the right age where he's young, he'll come 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,” HT quoted Shastri, as saying on The ICC Review Show.
“And 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, a mature 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. Obviously, 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,” he added.
Gambhir's first official coaching assignment as India's coach begins on Saturday when the team faces Sri Lanka in the three-match T20 series in Dambulla. Shastri advices Gambhir to communicate and gel with players quickly.
"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," added Shastri.
"I think that will be his most important task, which I think again should not be a problem because he's contemporary. He's seen these guys from the outside, he's dealt with a lot of guys who might have played with KKR as well and for Lucknow (Super Giants) when he was there."
