Gautam Gambhir: Indian cricket's first football style manager?

Is the ecosystem of Indian cricket team going to change into one dominated by the likes of all-powerful football managers like a Hansie Flick or Arne Slot? The emergence of Gautam Gambhir as the most powerful figure in the dressing room — on the back of the exit of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravi Ashwin — is certainly a signal in that direction.

‘’Indian cricket has officially entered the Gautam Gambhir era,’’ said Ashwin, not known for pulling his punches, on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat. The celebrated off-spinner, who retired in a huff midway during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour, was spot-on as Gambhir has been given carte blanche by the BCCI to initiate a 'mission transformation' in all formats of the game. No prizes for guessing that he and Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, have been in it together, and the onus will be on the taciturn Gambhir to produce the results now.

The five-Test India-England series, which kickstarts their campaign in the 2025-27 cycle of the World Test Championship, will be an acid test for the Gambhir regime, which has had little to show in terms of results in red-ball cricket so far. While the Men in Blue won the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai in March, their 3-0 humiliation at home against New Zealand and 3-1 rout in Australia meant curtains for their plans to make the third WTC final.

Shubman Gill (left) with Ravi Ashwin (photo: @ShubmanGill/X)

The focal point of interest as India look to turn over a new leaf will start with the choice of a new Test captain — where Shubman Gill, now 25, is in pole position to take over the mantle of Rohit Sharma. Informed sources say the head coach and Agarkar have already had a long chat with Gill about his role and the blueprint for the Test team’s future campaign. Gambhir’s accent will be on youth during this phase, though several former cricketers-turned-TV pundits have had a word of caution about Gill’s inexperience when it comes captaincy in international cricket.   

It's no secret that one of Gambhir’s preconditions before taking charge last July was that he wanted 360-degree authority over the functioning of the team, along with its support staff. There have been a series of unconfirmed reports of him and captain Rohit not being on the same page during the Australia series, while it reflected rather poorly on the team management when Ashwin quit midway through.

The aftermath of the debacle in Australia saw the BCCI cracking the whip following feedback from Gambhir — coming out with a charter with restrictions on players’ families accompanying them on long tours, travelling together on team buses, and a cap on the luggage that the board would pay for — the underlying message being that he wanted to end the ‘superstar culture’ in the team.

The new guidelines reportedly did not go down well with someone like Kohli, who was a strong advocate of the benefits of having family around on long tours.

It’s been less than a year since the unforgettable scenes of Kohli and Rohit joining the raucous celebrations at Wankhede Stadium after India won the T20 World Cup, but the scenario has undergone a dramatic change in the interim.

Ever since the BCCI started employing head coaches or managers, several high-profile personalities have taken on the role — among them Ravi Shastri, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, and overseas professionals like John Wright, Duncan Fletcher, Gary Kirsten or Greg Chappell. Most of them chose to take a backseat — unlike football managers — and delivered results to shape Indian cricket’s journey.

There were, however, two occasions which saw unsavoury confrontations between captain and coach — the spat between Chappell and Sourav Ganguly, and that between Kumble and Kohli.

Times have changed and Gambhir, who has immunity from the powers that be, has had the last laugh so far. It may not be out of context to recall his sound bytes while replying to a query about then captain Rohit’s absence at a pre-match media interaction in Sydney, when Gambhir said it was good enough that the coach was there.

It's now time for Gambhir to deliver.