Is Gautam Gambhir the right man to take India’s reins? Premium

The former opener has won trophies as both player and coach. So, it’s no surprise that his name is doing the rounds as a probable successor to Rahul Dravid

In the all-encompassing gaze that surrounds cricket, practitioners of that sport often get slotted into convenient stereotypes. Grim, boisterous, classy and bohemian are some of the traits jostling in a long list. Gautam Gambhir, with his serious visage, is usually placed in that strict headmaster or serious first-bencher zone.

It is not that Gambhir cannot smile, he does, but soon he lapses into the world-is-on-my-shoulders demeanour. And just like Ravi Shastri, often seen as a commentator with a booming voice and a man leading a rousing life, Gambhir too finds himself in a category where his behavioural attributes tend to overshadow who he really is.

For starters, Shastri was a fine cricketer, a batter with Test tons in England, Pakistan, the West Indies and Australia, a handy left-arm spinner, a winner of several accolades and a member of champion sides in the 1980s. Gambhir too held his own in an Indian batting line-up lit up by Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman.

The former India opener, a left-hander adept at both stonewalling and scoring, may not have had the southpaw’s effervescence that was intrinsic to Ganguly, but he was remarkably effective. 4,154 Test runs averaging 41.95 and an ODI yield of 5,238 runs at 39.68 do tell a distinguished tale. Importantly, be it the 2007 ICC World T20 final against Pakistan or the 2011 World Cup summit clash involving Sri Lanka, it was Gambhir who top-scored for India, with 75 and 97 respectively. India won both those titles and added heft to M.S. Dhoni’s leadership.

Yet, Gambhir’s odd flashes of anger get highlighted, masking the basic fact that he was a solid player. His 436-ball 137 that helped India hold on to a draw against New Zealand in the Napier Test in 2009 is the stuff of legend. His Test career may have drawn to a close in 2016, as a tendency to fall over in his final batting stride made him vulnerable, but there is no mistaking the value Gambhir offered the Indian unit.

He stayed relevant, leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to two IPL titles and often topping the team’s run-charts. Now in his current role as mentor, he has again galvanised KKR and guided Shreyas Iyer’s men to the victor’s podium. This is a man who has relished significant team-triumphs both as a player and as a coach. Consequently, it is no surprise that his name is doing the rounds as a probable successor to Rahul Dravid as the Indian team’s coach.

But then again we get caught up about whether his lips crease into a smile! Many years ago, during his formative phase, Gambhir had come down to Bengaluru for a domestic game and in an impromptu meeting at the KSCA Clubhouse reception, he came across as this soft-spoken intense player. He was fully aware of what he wanted to do both as an individual and as a member of a team. Much like Dravid, Gambhir had this fierce focus, the sport consumed him.