"Hope Gautam Gambhir Does Not See Himself As 'I Am Running This Team'," India Coach Gets Golden Advice From Harsha Bhogle

Gautam Gambhir's tenure as Indian cricket team head coach since taking over in July 2024 has been a mixed bag. India won the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2025 Asia Cup under him. However, during his coaching stint, India has also been clean-swept twice at home in Test series by New Zealand and South Africa. Gambhir is often seen as someone who is aggressive and wants to be in full control of the team. Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle had a bit of advice on Gambhir's mode of functioning.

"I hope Gautam Gambhir does not see himself as the CEO. He has to see himself as the consultant. The CEO is the captain. I hope he does not see himself as 'I am running this team.' Ok, you (speaking to Shaun Pollock) have been the captain and now you are going to be coach, who runs the team?" Bhogle said on Cricbuzz.

"That has to be the captain," Pollock said.

"In T20, is that blurring a little?" Bhogle asked.

"I think it is. I think it's blurring more in franchise cricket, because guys play so many franchise games and come from different parts of the world. Sometimes they drop in two days before the game. That means the leadership is thrown at the coaches. In national teams you get a longer period of time. As captain you have to guard that. I mean you can help him with as many ideas, try and build his confidence. But at the end of the day, when he is out there, he has to make those calls," Pollock explained.

"Who is changing the batting order, when the captain is still in the dugout?" Bhogle asked.

"If the captain is involved, it should come from him," Pollock replied.

Recently, Gautam Gambhir backed his philosophy of deploying a floating batting order in ODI cricket, with the positions not being fixed, especially in the middle order.

AB de Villiers, one of the greatest batters in the history of the game, isn't entirely in disagreement with Gambhir's approach but has cautioned him against crossing the "fine line."

"I do agree with him to a certain extent. I've always enjoyed a floating batting lineup in ODIs. But it's a fine line because you can't really play around too much with the players' roles. It's the top three, four to six, and then your tailenders who can hold the bat. It's almost like three segments, and you can really be creative with that. Play with right and left-hand combinations and certain situations of the game," De Villiers said about Gambhir's statement on his YouTube channel.

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