Gautam Gambhir looks perennially angry. He may not always be so, but he sure does look it. He wears a semi-permanent scowl, as if it’s him against the world all the time and he is game for it. He used that as his calling card when he played successfully for India and very little has changed since his graduation as the country’s head coach.
It must take something special for him to shed the scowl and break into a wide grin, right? Something as special
as winning the Champions Trophy, perhaps?
It hasn’t been the most enjoyable first seven and a half months in the hot seat for Rahul Dravid’s successor. A 0-2 defeat in his first One-Day International outing, his first tango as Robin to Rohit Sharma’s Batman – after all, in cricket at least, the coach is nominally expected to play second fiddle to the captain – in Sri Lanka in August was the harbinger of more depressing tidings. Such a 0-3 loss to New Zealand, India’s first home Test series defeat in 12 years and the first time they had been swept in a showdown involving more than two Tests in their own backyard. A 1-3 defeat in Australia, which translated to surrendering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after owning it for seven years. Whispers of player unrest, of the coach and the captain not being on the same page always. That’s usual territory when it comes to defeats.
But Gambhir’s heart has always been in the right place, no matter how his facial muscles might be positioned. Nothing energised him more than going out to do battle against the meanest, scariest, most menacing of fast bowlers. In his capacity as coach, he can’t do the same but he can do the next best thing, which is preparing his wards to do the same, to provide his captain with the best tools to make a match of it.
India benefits from Gambhir’s white-ball acumen
The Champions Trophy was a great platform for Gambhir to sing the redemption song. To erase some of the bitter memories of the preceding months at the helm. To orchestrate a memorable campaign sans Jasprit Bumrah, the best bowler bar none in the world right now. To mastermind a victorious, all-conquering run. Having ticked all these boxes, why not a wide grin? Whyever not?
India did things differently heading into the Champions Trophy, where they knew they would play all their matches at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS). On the worn surfaces at the DICS, to be more precise. The square had seen plenty of action in the lead-up to the second biggest 50-over global event. It was a no-brainer that the slower bowlers would therefore hold greater sway.
India went to the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown with four spinners. Okay, they will have us believe that they were actually only two spinners – Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal – and two all-rounders, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. But no matter the spin, no pun intended, they were four spinners. For Dubai, they plumped for five. Overkill much? Will you ever entertain even four of them in the same XI, something that had never happened in more than 50 years of India playing ODI cricket?
Why not? That’s what Gambhir seemed to say. If the conditions dictate so, most certainly. And so, on 2 March 2025, against New Zealand in their final Group A encounter, India played four spinners – Kuldeep, Axar, Jadeja and Varun Chakravarthy, who had only played one 50-over international previously. Chakravarthy
responded with five for 42. The template was set, India would play the same combination for the next two matches, the semi-final and the final against Australia and New Zealand respectively. Why fix something that ain’t broke, right?
Chakravarthy was the
proverbial last-minute inclusion, drafted into the Champions Trophy 15 at the expense of reserve opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rohit’s reasoning was studied, well thought out, convincing. He spoke of how Jaiswal had little chance of playing unless one of the other batters was injured, even in which case there was back-up in the form of Rishabh Pant. He stressed the ease of flying out a batter from India if the need arose, seeing as the flying time from Mumbai to Dubai is only three or so hours. And then
he came up with the clincher: There was a chance that Chakravarthy would play on his own steam, even without injuries to Kuldeep and Axar and Jadeja (Washington Sundar, the other spinner, was a back-up from the beginning, no more). It’s hard to fault that logic.
In Twenty20 Internationals against Bangladesh in October and England in January-February, India fielded four right-handers and as many left-handers in the top eight, allowing them to have a left-right combination at all stages, a preferred Gambhir equation. That wasn’t a luxury available to the captain and the head coach in 50-over cricket, so they did the next best thing – promote a left-hander to a position that had been occupied by a right-hander with tremendous success. A standout case of fixing something that ain’t broke, but for the compellingly right reasons.
KL Rahul has made a name for himself in 50-over cricket as a wicketkeeper batting at No. 5, a position where he has revelled because he hasn’t allowed himself to be shackled by overthinking. In 31 innings at that number, he averaged 56.47, his strike-rate was an excellent 96.36 – both around eight points superior to overall ODI numbers. Conventional wisdom would suggest sticking with him at that slot. But India wanted to unleash the first of their two left-handed all-rounders a little earlier, and so Rahul had to drop down to No. 6 so that his place could be occupied by Axar.
It wasn’t a decision taken on a whim, on a wing and a prayer. Axar had showcased his propensity to bat to the situation more than once, not least in the T20 World Cup final when he walked out at 34 for three and bossed a fourth-wicket stand of 72 with Virat Kohli. Kohli went 35 deliveries without a boundary at one stage, but if the scoreboard didn’t come to a standstill, it was because Axar lashed four sixes on his way to 47 off 31. He didn’t slog, he didn’t thrash. Axar batted like the proper batter that he is.
Demoting KL Rahul was risky but added balance to Team India
In Dubai, he had to embrace a different role because of the slowness of the tracks. He couldn’t always open his broad shoulders and tonk the ball, but that’s also not the role that was allocated to him. He was to be the bridge between the top four and the fiery three that followed – Hardik Pandya, Rahul and Jadeja. He was impeccable, sizing up situations and requirements in a jiffy and striking up useful fourth-wicket partnerships in the last three games – 98 with Shreyas Iyer in the league fixture against the Kiwis, 44 with Kohli in the semis and 61, again with Iyer, in the final. His successive knocks were 42 off 61, a run-a-ball 27 and 29 off 40, respectively. Innings steadied, delivered in a box with a bow neatly tied on top for Rahul and Pandya to untie and enjoy themselves to treats. Masterstroke much?
Oh, and Rahul himself. After the England ODIs, Gambhir made it clear that while Pant, the irrepressible Pant, the one with the X-Factor, was very very good, Rahul was the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter. Eyebrows were raised on the back of perception, when reality suggested that there really wasn’t a contest between the sage right-hander and the mercurial left-hander. At No. 6, Rahul was unflappable, switching gears effortlessly. Staying till the end to finish off chases against Bangladesh, Australia and in the final, making 41 (47b), 42 (34) and 34 (33), respectively. The coach knows best, eh?
All of these weren’t Gambhir calls alone. They couldn’t be, because this isn’t Under-16 cricket where the coach does the thinking for the captain. Rohit had his own ideas and several of them were in sync with his former teammate. Together, they charted a glorious, unconquered, monumental run. How could it not translate to a second ICC trophy in eight and a half months?