New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir Rarely seen smiling and has a reputation for being a difficult taskmaster. His aggressiveness, celebration, and constant involvement – from tipping players to appreciating milestones and victories – along with his straightforward remarks at press conferences, are prime examples that illustrate his serious demeanor.However, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has a different take.
Acknowledging Gambhir’s no-nonsense and aggressive style, Ganguly described him as a “good guy” and said he had no need to be rude or rough.Gambhir was appointed as the head coach of the Indian team in July 2024. Rahul DravidWhich gave India the title of T20 World Cup 2024.India won under Gambhir’s leadership. ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the Asia Cup, and successfully defended their T20 World Cup crown in 2026 by defeating the New Zealand national cricket team in the final.“Hey. [Gambhir] is the winner [of] T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy winner, he is a great T20 coach,” Ganguly told RivSports.While Gambhir has been praised for India’s success in white-ball cricket, he has also faced criticism for the team’s struggles in the red-ball format.India suffered a 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand last year, followed by a 1-3 series loss to Australia. The five-match series against England in England ended in a 2-2 draw. India then recorded a 2–0 clean sweep against the West Indies, but suffered another home whitewash, losing 0–2 to South Africa.Ganguly expressed confidence that Gambhir will improve as a Test coach in the near future.“He’s going to get better in Tests and most importantly on good wickets. If you play some good wickets, he’ll be a good Test match coach. He plays a lot on turning pitches in India. Look at what he did in England on good pitches where he didn’t have control. So as a coach he should take wickets out of his system,” Ganguly said.“Under these circumstances [he has mastered the white-ball format] So I am looking forward to the 2027 World Cup. He has to find a way to improve there because his batting in these conditions is suffocating but when it looks like he’s going to get the better of his guys when it bounces. Before going to Australia he was saying Gambhir this, Gambhir that, I said give this fellow a chance. I said give this man a chance. So I’m sure he will. He’s a competitor,” he said.
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How do you view Sourav Ganguly’s comments about Gautam Gambhir?
“You know he can be rude but he’s a competitor. He doesn’t need to be rude because you know he’s a good guy. I’ve seen the guy play with him for India but he’s a competitor, he wants to win.”“He says the right things about his team, tries to create a team environment, not individuals. So that’s good, but I think he will. His biggest test will be when he starts going and that’s something he has to master and I’m sure he will.”
