Gautam Gambhir better than Ravi Shastri, Rahul Dravid? WC-winning captain drops ‘temperamental person’ verdict.

Head coach of India Gautam Gambhir has faced criticism from all corners after the team’s poor performance in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gambhir’s methods of managing the team and picking players have come under scrutiny.

Recently, he has been supported by the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev. Kapil feels that it is the captain’s and the team’s responsibility to do well on the field and the coach doesn’t have much of a role to play.

The former India all-rounder also compared Gambhir’s style of work to that of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. He believes that every coach has his own way of working that he tries to implement during his tenure.

Read also: Shubman Gill was dropped from the race to replace Rohit Sharma as India’s captain

Kapil Dev defends Gautam Gambhir

While talking to Gulf News, Kapil Dev spoke about Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as India’s head coach so far. Kapil feels that coaches are not around what happens on the field as the captain and the team are mostly involved.

“Expectations are high. The coaches are not on the field, but the captain and the team are on the ground. A new coach will come out with his own ideas and hope he will serve the country in a better sense. If it is not, people will raise their finger,” Kapil pointed out.

India’s Test performance series against Australia was far from satisfactory. The batsmen failed miserably against the world class Australian bowling attack while the bowlers looked inexperienced apart from jasprit bumrahwho was the main carrier of the series.

Kapil Dev compares Gautam Gambhir with Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri

Kapil Dev further compared Gautam Gambhir’s coaching style with the methods of former Indian coaches Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Kapil believes that Gambhir is a temperamental person and has his own ways of dealing with certain things.

“(Gautam) Gambhir is a bit of a temperamental person. He is different from Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Every coach has his own way of thinking, so we hope he will do better for the country,” Kapil added.

Ravi Shastri is known as a great motivator and India reached various heights under his tenure. With Shastri as the head coach, India won two Test series in Australia, which is no mean feat.

Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid is a man who likes to take things easy. Dravid liked to keep things under control and followed a process to lead a team. During his tenure, India won the 2024 T20 World Cup and also finished as runners-up in the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure so far

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as India’s head coach has not been smooth sailing so far. The Men in Blue lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka after a gap of 27 years. A few months ago, India lost a Test series to New Zealand by a margin of 0-3.

It was India’s first home Test series defeat in 12 years and ended an incredible run. After the series against New Zealand, India lost to Australia in the away Test series even after winning the first Test.