Dubai, July 26: Former India captain Ravi Shastri expects Gautam Gambhir to flourish in his new role as head coach, saying he is a “contemporary” mentor who has taken over the reigns of a relatively “mature and settled” team.
Shastri, a former India coach, believes the 42-year-old Gambhir can make an immediate impact in his new role as he is already close to the team, having played with and mentored quite a few players.
The former left-handed opener served as a team mentor for Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
“He’s (Gambhir) 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,” Shastri said on the recent episode of The ICC Review.
“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.”
Shastri feels managing the workload of players, especially bowlers, will be Gambhir’s biggest challenge.
With stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retiring from the shortest format after last month’s T20 World Cup triumph, Gambhir’s other task would be find to find replacements for the trio.
“You mentioned the three players who were retired, but barring them, I think most of the others will be still fit to be in that T20 World Cup team two years down the line in India.”
The former India cricketer feels there will be problem of plenty for Gambhir.
Player management is another aspect which will be pivotal to Gambhir’s success, believes Shastri.
“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,” he said.
“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.
“And he’s been around the circuit, the moment he finished cricket and that was not too long ago, he still is around, plays a lot of the legends cricket as well.” (PTI)
