India's legendary left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan has questioned his former teammate and current head coach Gautam Gambhir's flexible approach in white-ball cricket. Zaheer feels that there has to be some method to the flexibility and communication needs to happen with players otherwise it will cause insecurity in the group.
"You've said that you've got to have the flexibility. Number one and two will be there but the others are going to be flexible. Within that flexibility, some rules also apply. There are certain protocols you have to follow. Certain communication needs to happen, which is gonna streamline things. Otherwise, you are creating insecurity, which, at some stage, will come back and hurt you. You don't want it to be the case. So you've got to be prepared to deal with that situation," Zaheer told Cricbuzz when asked about the difference between coaching styles of Gambhir and Rahul Dravid.
Zaheer also pointed out that Gambhir is more dynamic in his approach. He wants the system to be streamlined in order for it to function it properly.
"That's why I said recency bias is something very strong right now. The situation has become dynamic if you have to compare Rahul Dravid's approach and Gautam Gambhir's approach. You can say it's good, bad or ugly, or you can say how do we adapt. Each individual is a part of this system, be it the senior management or the think tank, be it the players, be it the selectors. They will have to gauge it, and the entire system needs to be streamlined for the wheel to turn properly," he added.
With Gambhir at the helm of things, India beat England in the ODI series with one game to go. The former Indian opener was criticised after India were beaten in the ODI series by Sri Lanka followed by the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 defeat. After a disappointing tour of Australia, India beat England 4-1 in the five-T20I series. The third ODI of the series ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is scheduled to be played on February 12 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.