Head coach Gautam Gambhir is just one step away from grabbing his first ICC title under his coaching with Champions Trophy 2025 title triumph. The deadly duo of coach Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma have catapulted Team India to Champions Trophy 2025 final.
Meanwhile just ahead of India versus New Zealand Champions Trophy 2025 final, Gautam Gambhir opened up on his bond with captain Rohit Sharma. Gambhir publicly expressed a 'fabulous relationship' with captain Rohit. Gambhir's appointment followed his successful tenure mentoring the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 title win, and he succeeded Rahul Dravid after India's triumph in the T20 World Cup 2024 held in the West Indies and the United States.
The professional bond between Gambhir and Rohit began during India's tour of Sri Lanka the previous year. Since then, their partnership has contributed to many of India's wins. While they achieved success in numerous home bilateral series, they also faced setbacks, notably losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. Moreover, a 0-3 home Test series defeat against New Zealand drew criticism.
Gautam Gambhir talks about his bond with Rohit Sharma ahead of Champions Trophy final
Rohit Sharma's leadership has recently propelled the Indian team to the final of the Champions Trophy, where they are set to compete against New Zealand on March 9 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. In assessing Rohit's success, head coach Gautam Gambhir talked about how a great human being is Rohit, let alone his captaincy. He said that Rohit's qualities as a 'good human being' have been instrumental in his ability to flourish in the captaincy role.
"Forget about Rohit as a captain. I’ve had a fabulous relationship with him. I think he’s just a great guy, and that is something that’s important. When you’re a good human being, you end up becoming a good leader. That’s the reason why I feel he’s achieved quite a lot with his IPL franchise and has won the T20 World Cup as well,” Gambhir said in a video on ICC.
“But again, those are histories, that’s the past. Now we have a new challenge ahead. Hopefully, he can be at his best, not only from a batting point of view but as a leader as well,” former India captain added.
India entered at the Champions Trophy with the weight of expectation as the tournament's clear favourites. However they lived up to the expectations and put on a dominant show in the Champions Trophy and are still unbeaten in the tournament. They kicked off their campaign with emphatic wins over Bangladesh, Pakistan and then New Zealand in the group stage which helped them cruise into knockouts. They faced Australia in the semifinal and defeated them by four wickets to storm into the Champions Trophy 2025 final. Now, India stand a chance to win their third Champions Trophy title when they take on New Zealand in the summit clash this Sunday.