New Delhi, May 20: Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir believes it is not important for a good coach to have played a lot cricket but the same couldn't be said about a selector. The 38-year-old former opener also opined that teams could have a format specific batting coach who can help the players hone their skills suited to a particular format.
While talking about being a successful cricket coach, on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Gautam Gambhir said, "It's not important that you have played a lot of cricket, for you to be a very successful coach - probably, that's right for a selector, but not for a coach. Probably you can just have a different T20 batting coach, just for that particular format."
While elaborating his thinking about a good coach the stylish left-handed batsman said a coach ultimately helps a player free his mindset so that he/she can play those big shots with confidence.
"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. 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.
Gambhir played 58 Tests and 147 ODIs for India and scored 4154 and 5238 respectively. The southpaw also played 37 T20Is in India colours and slammed 7 half-centuries. He was part of India's T20 and 50-over World Cup-winning sides and made valuable contributions in both the finals with his bat.
Gambhir also played 154 IPL matches and scored 4217 runs at a strike rate of 123.9 and slammed 36 fifties. As a captain, he led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL triumphs.