“He knows my thinking; I know his thinking”- Gautam Gambhir says his relationship with Rohit Sharma wasn’t ‘just captain-coach’

Gambhir had taken over as India head coach when Rohit Sharma was India ODI and Test captain.

India head coach Gautam Gambhir talked about his relationship with Rohit Sharma, given that Gambhir had taken over when Rohit was still captaining India in ODIs and Tests. With Gambhir taking charge of the Indian side, the chemistry was not one where a coach steps into the changing room and tries to understand his captain.

As Gambhir recollects from his experience of meeting many captains over the years, he has made an unusual revelation about the dynamics between him and Rohit, which is usually developed by a coach over quite some time.

“I don’t think so. See, Rohit’s and my relationship wasn’t just that of captain and coach. Rohit’s and my relationship: when Rohit came into the team, I was a senior player at that time. So, Rohit’s and my relationship goes back then. Rohit has known me since then. It is not like Rohit and I had a new relationship, or that I came as a coach from a foreign country who has neither seen Rohit play nor knows Rohit individually or personally, what kind of person he is,” Gambhir said on JioStar.

Gambhir had seen Rohit evolve from a teenager to the world's best white-ball opener, while Rohit knew Gambhir long before the latter occupied perhaps the most scrutinized position in Indian cricket.

Gambhir recognized that coach and skipper sometimes reach different judgments. His reasoning was that disagreements become much easier to navigate when both parties comprehend the other's point of view, and the ultimate choice is guided by what is best for the team.

“So often when you have played together, things become very easy. And in fact, he knows my thinking; I know his thinking. Because tomorrow I might have some other thinking, the captain might have some other thinking, but ultimately, whatever is in the best interest of the team—if that’s the final decision—then nothing can be better than that,” Gambhir said.

Gambhir has worked with four captains during his tenure as head coach of the Indian cricket team—Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shreyas Iyer. Despite their different personalities and approaches to the game, Gambhir believes one quality has connected all four.

“And that’s why I said that with all four, whichever four captains I have worked with, this has been my experience with them, that everyone’s intention has been Indian cricket,” he said.

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir will be involved with the Indian team when they take on the West Indies in a series of three ODIs and five T20Is, starting September 27.