Anubhav Katheria
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed the hype around the newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir saying there is no connection between the coach and the success achieved by the team.
Manjrekar posted on social media that it’s not about who the coach is instead it’s about the Indian cricket, No coach, Lalchand Rajput, Gary Kristen and Dravid. Coaches when India won the WCs 1983, 2007, 2011 and 2024 (Manjrekar in his post wrote 2023 instead of 2024). It’s really about Indian cricket, not who the coach is. Time we stop thinking there is a direct correlation.
As the two-time World Cup winner Gambhir is set to begin his stint as head coach on 27th July, with a T20I match against Sri Lanka in an away series. India and SL will play 3 T20s and 3 ODIs. Amid all the hype of this IND vs SL is around Gautam Gambhir, Sanjay Manjrekar has urged the broadcasters and fans to give attention to the Indian cricket team as a whole and not channel their energy to an individual alone.
Gambhir has some big shoes to fill where the previous Indian coach Rahul Dravid won T20 WC recently, which was his last assignment as the head coach. Gambhir has some big tournaments in his tenure like, the ICC Champions Trophy next year in February, WTC Final in 2025, T20 WC in 2026, WTC Final in 2027 and ODI WC in 2027.
Ravi Shastri recently praised Gambhir in this new role saying that Gambhir is contemporary and has fresh ideas and most importantly he has dealt with most of the players in the IPL and he knows them better. Indian team is looking for a fresh new start under Gambhir where after winning the T20 WC the 3-star players of India, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravinder Jadeja have announced retirement from the format. Following that Suryakumar Yadav has been made the new captain in the T20 format and Shubman Gill as vice-captain.
Rahul Dravid also sent a message to Gautam Gambhir sending his best wishes to him. Dravid has advised Gautam to stay calm, take a step back and crack a smile in heated situations. It’s the most exciting job in their world, Rahul said to Gambhir in the message.
