Despite enjoying great success as both an international cricketer and head coach, Gautam Gambhir The former Indian cricketer is facing severe criticism. Atul Wasanwho accused him of being a “bully” in the team environment.Gambhir took over as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team on 10 July 2024, replacing him. Rahul Dravid. His tenure has yielded mixed results so far. Under his leadership, India achieved historic dominance in white-ball cricket by becoming the first team to hold the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, ICC Champions Trophy 2025, and Asia Cup 2025 titles simultaneously.However, India’s Test performance has declined sharply over the same period. The team suffered unusual home series whitewashes against the New Zealand national cricket team and the South African national cricket team, while also losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to the Australian national cricket team for the first time in a decade.
Despite the setbacks at Red Ball Cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is reportedly backing Gambhir long-term, with talks of extending his contract beyond the 2027 ODI World Cup and possibly through the 2028 T20 World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics.Speaking in an interview with Vicky Lalwani, Wasan made a scathing assessment of Gambhir’s personality and management style, claiming that his aggressive style dates back to his early cricketing days in Delhi.“I know him personally since childhood. I have had issues with him. With him, it’s about my way or the highway. That’s the way he is, and he bullies a lot in Delhi cricket as well,” Wasan said.“His nature is that from the start, he comes from money, is a great player, and he’s intelligent. His ego is on a different level. He believes that if he says it is night when it is morning, it will be believed that it is night. fall in line If you don’t fall in line, you’re on my hit list. He will try to hurt you, but he has achieved a lot in cricket, and his nature has helped him in cricket.Wasan added that Gambhir’s confrontational personality was a key factor behind his success as a player, but questioned whether the same attitude still worked in a coaching role.“The player he became is because of his nature. He couldn’t give his best unless he fought. He might fight from his window. But he doesn’t know when to get off that horse, now that he’s retired, that’s why he’s fighting. Virat Kohli: Excessive aggression and an alpha male type personality from Delhi,” claims Wasan.The former Indian cricketer also alleged that not everyone inside the Indian dressing room is happy with Gambhir’s strict style.“I’m sure not all players can be in a very happy place. Some will be sleeping on a needle, it happens, personal likes and dislikes, and that too with such a strong personality, personal likes and dislikes, and taking them with a stick, if you keep winning, that’s fine,” he said. But if you lose, you need to listen to criticism.”Although Wasan hinted that some Indian players are unhappy with the current environment, he declined to name any publicly.“I know one or two of them, they won’t say it openly, I can’t say their names on this show, everyone knows what’s going on, but after sidelining these players, if you win, it’s your world, it’s a team game, no one will listen to the player, if after all that, the coach wins, then the coach is wrong,” Wase said.
