Gautam Gambhir: A die-hard cricketer, an instinctive coach and the man who had big nights

New Delhi: Gautam Gambhiris a Derry boy in the true sense. He wears his heart on his sleeve.You can’t even blame him for that. There is a saying in Delhi cricket circles that playing for India is much easier than playing for Delhi. You have to be strong enough to survive in the Delhi cricket ecosystem. Gambhir not only survived but led Delhi to win the Ranji Trophy in 2007. He went on to become one of India’s best openers across formats.

Gambhir was the MVP of India’s two World Cup victories: the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. In both finals, he stepped up to the plate. Be it his 54-ball 75 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Johannesburg or his crafty 97 to lead India to victory in Mumbai four years later, Gambhir has proven himself to be a force in the ICC tournament. Now, as a coach, he has added the World Cup to his resume. Don’t forget the championship trophy and his intense pulsed light For meritorious service as captain and mentor.Gambhir always showed a desire to fight. He is often remembered for his two knocks in the World Cup final, but to truly understand Gambhir we have to look at his marathon knock in Napier in 2009. Gambhir batted for 643 minutes, over 10 hours, faced 436 balls and scored 137 runs to seal the draw for India.

Stubbornness has always been a defining characteristic of Gambhir and it has always been evident in his character.There is a saying in Delhi cricket circles: If Gambhir trusts you, he will give you his full support.forward Suryakumar Yadav After becoming a sensation for Mumbai Indians, he realized his pedigree under Gambhir at KKR and was appointed as the vice-captain of the Kolkata team. Suriya now becomes the fourth Indian captain to win the World Cup.Sticking with Sanju Samson despite poor performances from the batsmen and continuing to support Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarty – two world No.1s who have struggled in the World Cup – are just a few examples.

During KKR’s title bid in 2024, he noticed Ramandeep Singh training in the gym while others were celebrating their first match win. The next day, he spoke to Ramandeep and explained his role as the batsman at number seven and eight and assured him that he would play in all the matches. Ramandeep played a key role in KKR’s campaign and the Punjab all-rounder even went on to play for Team India.Then there is Harshit Rana. The keyboard warriors kept a sharp edge, but Rana’s confidence continued to grow and now looks like a million-dollar investment. Even though the Delhi pacer got injured before the start of the match against India, Gambhir finally had a bowler who could score crucial 20 runs with the bat.There is another interesting story about Ayush Badoni. When Vijay Dahiya urged Gambhir to call Badoni for trials for the Lucknow Supergiants, the current India coach drove to the local ground where Badoni was training and watched him silently for an hour. Bardoni had no idea. Later that night, he received a call about the LSG trial. Now he is also on the fringes of the national team.Gambhir went to war with figures like late Bishan Singh Bedi and Chetan Chauhan over Navdeep Saini. After just 15 minutes of watching, Gambhir decided that Saini was a rare talent that needed to be nurtured.“Thanks to Navdeep Saini for his debut in India. Even before the ball was bowled, you had two wickets, @BishanBedi and @ChetanChauhanCr. Their middle stumps are gone because they write a player’s cricketing obituary before he takes the field, shame! ! ” Gambhir wrote after the Delhi pacer made his India debut in 2019.Former India U-19 World Cup winning captain and Delhi opener Unmukt Chand feels that there is no one like Gambhir when it comes to instilling confidence in cricketers.“If he supports someone, he really supports that player. There are many examples of that. He appointed Suryakumar Yadav as vice-captain. This was a very unusual thing at the time. When you know you’re valued within your team, your performance will improve. Once you remove the fear of failure, you will thrive,” Unmukt told TimesofIndia.com.Gambhir barely smiled. His expression rarely betrays his thoughts or feelings. He has always been a man of few words.Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri, while praising the Indian team for winning, also teased the current Indian coach and said: “Come on, GG, show us your priceless smile.”Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh played a scroll with his coach and said, “Oh, paaji kade has bhi liya karo yaar”, asking Gambhir to do the splits.MS Dhoni also took a dig at his former teammate in her message: “Coach Sahab, your smile looks great. Intensity and smile are a killer combination.”In this quote, Dhoni summed up the man who helped him win two World Cup finals. Gautam Gambhir has a habit of showing up when the stakes are highest and the stage is the World Cup final. “First of all, the players made me win. I have been saying for a long time that you are as good a coach or captain as your players. So I think the credit should go to the players. The way the game was played, the professionalism and most importantly their courage,” Gambhir said at a press conference after the win.As a player he was accustomed to making the biggest nights his, but after his first taste of World Cup glory as a coach, Gambhir stepped aside to let his players enjoy the spotlight.