Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is widely known for his honest and hard-hitting statements. He often speaks straight from the shoulder. Whether its 2011 World Cup or his ouster from the Indian team, Gambhir has always issued statements quite boldly. Now he has once again given a foretaste while chatting in a sports show.
During the discussion, the 38-year-old listed out some qualities of a good coach. Gambhir said in order to become a successful coach, a person needs to fulfil standards other than playing international cricket. The Delhi-born was of the opinion that one of the chief roles of a coach, especially in the 20-over format should be to establish a positive mindset among cricketers.
“You don’t have to play a lot of cricket, to be a very successful coach – probably, that’s right for a selector, but not for a coach,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected Show.
“Probably you can just have a different T20 batting coach, just for that particular format. It is really not true that someone who hasn’t played international cricket or who hasn’t played enough cricket, can’t become a successful coach,” he added.
Gambhir also reckoned that any coach must realise the difference between making an impact and tampering with a cricketer’s natural game. Gambhir stated, changing one’s technique or schooling up a batsman to play a particular set of shots is actually the worst thing that a coach can do.
“What ultimately a coach does in a T20 format is frees your mindset and feeds your mindset and make you hit those goals and those big shots. No one teaches you how to hit a lap shot or a reverse lap shot; no coach can do that. If someone is trying to do that to a player, he is harming him more than actually making him a better player,” Gambhir added further.
Earlier, on the same show, Gambhir had revealed that he had seen former India captain, MS Dhoni, losing his patience on a cricket field. Dhoni was known for his calmness and composure, and probably that’s the reason why the Ranchi-born was called ‘Captain Cool’ by his fans, but Gambhir was of a different opinion. However, the cricketer-turned-politician had also stated that it’s completely fine to lose cool as Dhoni is, after all, a human.
“People say that they have never seen him (Dhoni) lose his cool, but I have on a couple of times. It was during the 2007 World Cup and in other World Cups, when we haven’t done well. He’s human, and he’s bound to react as well. It’s absolutely fair enough to do that. Even at CSK, if there’s a misfield or if someone has dropped a catch,” Gambhir had said.
