Gautam Gambhir became the first to win the T20 World Cup both as a player and as a coach.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke about the post from MS Dhoni mentioning him and asking him to smile more after India won the T20 World Cup 2026. Gambhir explained why he keeps a serious demeanor while being in the dugout during matches.
Dhoni ended his social media silence after India’s T20 World Cup 2026 win and lauded the team's performance. He had a special message for Gambhir, adding that the smile fit him well and was a killer combination with the passion he possessed.
The Indian coach appreciated Dhoni's comment, but conceded that it might be difficult to maintain a positive attitude during international games. Gambhir stated that losing is not an option in India and that the weight of expectations forces him to wear a serious face.
"But that’s why, being a coach, I feel that sometimes it is very difficult to be in a situation where people commenting on it have never actually been in that position. But good on him that he tweeted that, honestly. However, I feel that when you are sitting in the dugout, there is so much at stake.
There are always huge expectations from the Indian team. Even if you want to laugh or smile—and of course everyone would like to—many times you just cannot. Especially when you are playing a tournament like the World Cup. Because in India, unfortunately, losing is not considered an option. That’s true, but it can still happen. If losing was not an option, then India would have won every World Cup, but that’s not how it works," said Gambhir to ANI.
Gambhir reiterated the need to have a serious demeanor by saying that, whatever the amount of effort put in, there is no assurance of results in athletics.
"This is sport. You invest your entire life into something, but there is no guarantee of returns. It’s not like equity or the share market, where you know what kind of returns you will get on your investment. Here, you work hard for one and a half years, you invest everything, and there is still no guarantee that you will win the World Cup.
Just think about it—if we had not won the World Cup or if we had lost in the semi-final, then the return would essentially be zero, right? After putting in so much effort and making such a huge investment. That’s why I say sport is very different from other professions," said Gambhir.
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Gautam Gambhir will now be on a long break as focus shifts to the Indian Premier League’s 2026 season that begins on March 28.