Former India bowling all-rounder Joginder Sharma believes Gautam Gambhir will not stay as men's cricket team's head coach for a long duration. Despite Gambhir's first assignment as head coach started with a 3-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka, Joginder feels that his alleged differences with any player, not Virat Kohli, will lead to him leaving the post.
"Gautam Gambhir team ko sambhalne waala hai lekin par mera ye manna hai ki Gautam Gambhir jyada lambe samay tak tik nahi payega (Gautam Gambhir is the one to manage the team, but I believe that Gautam Gambhir will not be able to stay for a long time)," Joginder said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.
"Kyunki Gautam Gambhir ke apne hi kuch faisle hote hain. Ho sakta hai kisi player se man motaaw ho jaye. Mai Virat Kohli ki baat nahi kar raha hun. Gautam Gambhir ke faisle kai baar aise ho jaate hain ki dusro ko pasand nahi aate (This is because Gautam Gambhir has his own decisions. It might happen that he has a disagreement with a player. I am not talking about Virat Kohli. Many times, Gautam Gambhir's decisions are such that others do not like them)," the 40-year-old added.
No T20I for Joginder after historic win
Joginder was Gambhir's teammate when India won the inaugural edition of ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2007. In the final, Gambhir top-scored with a 75-run knock whereas Joginder etched his name in history by taking Misbah-ul-Haq’s wicket in the final over.
Despite Joginder's heroics in the final, he did not play another T20I for India. He played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but could not make a comeback. He made his last IPL appearance in the 2011 edition.
No loss under Gambhir so far
India are yet to lose a match since Gambhir has taken over the reins from Rahul Dravid who helped India win the T20 World Cup 2024 and end their ICC trophy drought. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side completed cleansweep despite a super over clash in a low-scoring third T20I. As big names returned for the ODIs, India played a tie against Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lankan side.
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