Gautam Gambhir‘s coaching reshapes Indian cricket selection, focusing on spinners and batting strategies as India prepares for ODIs and T20Is against England. There is a changing trend in Indian cricket with regards to player selection ever since Gautam Gambhir has taken over as India coach. The strongest influence a cricket coach can have on a team’s performance is by his choice of players, while selecting the Indian squad, and thereafter the playing XI. The selectors give much credence to what the coach desires in such matters.
More than six years since playing his last competitive game, Gautam Gambhir took over as India’s head coach at the age of 42, the second-youngest Indian after Kapil Dev in the late 1990s to be given the job. Fiercely competitive on the field, and feisty and outspoken off it, Gautam Gambhir takes charge of an Indian side that qualified for the finals of the last World Test Championship and ODI World Cup in 2023, and just won the T20 World Cup in 2024.
Gautam Gambhir’s career in coaching arena until England series 2025
Well, he hasn’t coached a domestic or international team previously in List A or first-class cricket, but that’s not unusual for the Indian team. For example, both Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble did not have prior coaching experience when they took charge in 2014 and 2016 respectively.
Gautam Gambhir got the job on the back of a successful stints as mentor of two IPL franchises. Under his guidance, Lucknow Super Giants qualified for the playoffs in their first two IPL seasons, and then he oversaw Kolkata Knight Riders’ run to the title in 2024. So in that regard, Gautam Gambhir’s pathway to the India job is extremely different to his predecessor Rahul Dravid, who spent years as head of the National Cricket Academy and coaching India’s age-group and A teams.
It’s true that Gautam Gambhir has been involved in a fair share of heated moments – on social media and in person – over a number of issues ranging from cricket to politics. However, he is believed to be someone who goes to great lengths to stick up for those in his team. For example, his altercation with Kohli in IPL 2023 is believed to be a result of him not taking kindly to a verbal spat between Kohli and the LSG fast bowler Naveen Ul Haq.
And in 2017, he had a run-in with the Delhi state coach over the handling of youngsters in the team. Gautam Gambhir has been outspoken against giving an individual excessive limelight in a team game, a philosophy he followed during his mentoring stints at LSG and KKR. While many former cricketers have welcomed this move by India post WT20 triumph.
However its been a mixed bag for Gautam Gambhir in his coaching tenure having won a solitary series vs Bangladesh and losses vs Sri Lanka New Zealand and most recently getting out of the World Test Championship due to loss to Australia in the latest BGT series.
Former Indian batter now commentator Sanjay Manjrekar believes that the India England series and Champions Trophy 2025 would be the final chance for Gautam Gambhir to redeem himself as Indian coach.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar on significance of 2025 IND vs ENG T20I series for under-fire coach Gautam Gambhir
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recently highlighted the importance of the five-match T20I series against England. The cricketer-turned-commentator opined these games are crucial for head coach Gautam Gambhir as he looks to turn things around after the Men in Blue lost back-to-back Test series against New Zealand and Australia as well as the ODI series in Sri Lanka.
Manjrekar believes that the five-game series could help the Men in Blue build momentum ahead of the three-match ODI series against England and the ICC 2025 Champions Trophy. He added that Gambhir will be judged on his performance in the ICC event and India’s upcoming tour of England.
The 59-year-old told ESPNCricinfo :
“Let’s hope that he [Gautam Gambhir] can feel a little settled and the pressure is off him. He’ll have a new bunch of young players which is likely an easier challenge for him than the one that he had in Australia. So, winning these matches are important.”
“It’ll just get him to feel part of that team but what will happen in the Champions Trophy and the England tour could spoil all the good work that he could’ve done before that. So, those are the two tournaments,” he added.
Gambhir won two back-to-back T20I series with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav against Sri Lanka (3-0) and Bangladesh (3-0).
“This will be a good test of a very good T20 Indian side” – Sanjay Manjrekar warns India against England
Sanjay Manjrekar, meanwhile, warned India not to be complacent against England in the T20I series. He said in the same video from (2:47):
“When you start reading from top to bottom, [England] looks a very good side. Their seam bowling is covered, there’s a bit of quality there. They’ve got a spinner in Adil Rashid, who’s a game-changer as a wrist spinner, and a lot of bowling options. People like Liam Livingstone, [is] primarily there for batting but can turn in as off-spinner and leg-spinners and bowl three overs like India found out in the semis of the T20 World Cup in Australia.”
“On paper, England looks like a strong side and that’s why I think this will be a good test of a very good T20 Indian side as well because they are taking on an opposition that looks really strong,” he added.
India’s squad for T20I series against England: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk.), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk.).