Champions Trophy 2025: Coach Gautam Gambhir should work more, talk less

Add as a preferred source on Google

So, Gautam Gambhir is again talking, rather waxing eloquently. Just after India won the T20 series against England, coach Gambhir spoke of playing high intensity cricket, aggressive and what-not. To say they will score 250/260 runs in T20 internationals is a bit like an IPL coach talking not national coach. Gambhir knows his glib talk is not needed as Team India next prepares for the ODI series against England, to climax with the Champions Trophy.

Agreed, public memory is short and some fans may have forgotten what happened in the Border Gavaskar Trophy Series in Australia. But it cannot and should not be forgotten. Why has Gambhir not talked about the lousy form of T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav and so many other shortcomings.

That juniors like Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma performed for India is well-known. The Kolkata lobby may be gloating Mohd Shami is back among wickets, but is he really going to be the frontline bowler for the Champions Trophy is a big question. Can his wobbly knees shoulder the load is very worrying. At the same time, Hardik Pandya has also been performing in shorts bursts. The consistency is missing, for Pandya is supposed to be all-rounder who will have to deliver.

Now that it's more or less certain, Jasprit Bumrah will not be fit for the Champions Trophy, Gambhir should be worried. He should avoid all this glib talk and focus on his job. One must keep reminding him, he flopped as a coach in Australia and so did his support staff. Why is it that Virat Kohli sought Sanjay Bangar to iron out flaws in his batting before he left for Delhi to play a Ranji Trophy says a lot. There is clearly nobody in this coaching pack of team India who can really sit and talk with Kohli or Rohit Sharma. More of the problems have to do not just with technique but also a mindset, and the cerebral part.

Gambhir should not be talking like a fan-boy. The BCCI will not judge him on India winning a T20 series against England. Assuming India win the ODI series as well, it will not suffice. Fans will want India to win the Champions Trophy, since that is the hype. Just to jog the readers' memory, Gambhir had talked of hard cricket and what not for Test cricket. It boomeranged, with losses to New Zealand at home last year and being decimated in the BGT Series a national embarrassment.

Nobody in Indian cricket is indispensable. The shrill voices may have dimmed but Gambhir needs to know he has a lot of work to do. Patch-work won't do, he has to be ready to take the team along. ODI captain Rohit Sharma may smile and say all is well between him and the coach, but everyone knows what transpired in Australia. Ideally, there should be less talk and more action. The dressing room disaster of Australia and 'leaks' have not been forgotten.

What lies ahead for Gambhir is not a garden of roses. He will have to tread carefully, take the team along. The Champions Trophy will be crucial for him since the coaching bio of his right now reads like a poor report card. A small suggestion, don't take like Bazball and all that., Be modest, perform and lead India as a mature coach. If Gambhir does that, it will do him good. If not, the BCCI will view him seriously before the Test series in England.