Gautam Gambhir has one of the most talked about jobs in world cricket. Whatever he does, he will not please fans. Someone or the other will imply an agenda and ask questions. If he backs Sanju Samson and plays him at No. 5, fans will ask why Shubman Gill and not Sanju at the top of the order? If he plays Kuldeep Yadav and drops Arshdeep Singh, some will say he is being unfair towards the left-arm seamer. In India’s white-ball set-up, which has an abundance of riches, you can never please everyone. The best part about Gautam is that he doesn’t want to!
He doesn’t really care, and that’s the best thing. He has this innate ability to insulate himself and own his decisions. He can indeed go wrong. At times, he has and he will. But that will never stop him from taking the hard calls and owning the decisions. Playing Washington Sundar in England was one such. Washington eventually played a stellar hand in winning India The Oval Test, and Gambhir deserves a lot of credit for taking the call.
In Dubai, almost every journalist present had reported that Jitesh Sharma was the frontrunner to be wicketkeeper. Gambhir thought otherwise and went ahead with his call. That’s what you want to see in a T20 set-up. You need decisive calls and a fearless approach. That’s Gambhir, and that’s what works for him. What was also interesting to see was Suryakumar Yadav coming in at No. 3 ahead of Tilak Verma. It wasn’t because of the left-right combination either, for it was Abhishek Sharma who had been dismissed. This was yet another interesting call and, clearly, India want their best to face the maximum number of balls in every game.
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With Gambhir, you get three things. First, the only thing he cares about is the team. He isn’t bothered about who says what, and will always back his instincts. Second, he is an aggressive coach who isn’t scared to take bold calls. For example, he will play Shivam Dube and back him wholeheartedly. Third, he is the best man for high-pressure situations. It is because he will soak up the pressure and keep the boys insulated. For a match like Pakistan, Gambhir is the best man to be in the Indian dugout. A hardcore nationalist, he will go in with a no-nonsense approach and be decisive.
As for the trolls, they can keep calling him names and abusing him. They will keep up their rants on social media, and say what they want. None of them remotely matter, and that’s the truth. These very same people will go up to Gambhir and request him for a selfie and an autograph if he ever appears in front of them. That’s the hypocrisy of social media, and that’s why it can never be taken seriously. After a year in the job, Gambhir is firmly in control of this Indian team. The England series has added to his confidence, and it can be conjectured that this team will have his imprint over the next couple of years – whether the trolls like it or not.
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