While India’s white-ball side has been performing exceptionally well under head coach Gautam Gambhir, producing trophies and strong win-loss records, that success has not translated to the traditional format.
With Gambhir at the helm, India have won seven, lost 10 and drew two of their 19 Tests so far, which includes a couple of clean sweeps against New Zealand (0-3) and South Africa (0-2) at home.
The team also conceded the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3 in Australia. The only Test series wins under Gambhir's tenure have come against Bangladesh and the West Indies at home.
After the recent home Test debacle against South Africa, calls for Gambhir’s sacking have grown louder, with fans and experts criticizing his team selection and strategy.
Amidst wave of scrutiny surrounding Gambhir’s working style, legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev has said that modern-day head coach's role is more about "managing" players than actually coaching them.
According to him, the term 'coach' is often misunderstood in contemporary cricket. "Today that word called a coach... 'coach' is a very common word today. Gautam Gambhir can't be a coach. He can be a manager of the team," Kapil said at the Indian Chamber of Commerce ICC Centenary Session, as quoted by news agency PTI.
"When you say coach, coach is where I learn in school and college. Those were the people, my coaches there. They could manage me," he added.
India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain also wondered how can Gambhir, who was an opening batter in his playing days, coach a leg-spinner or a wicketkeeper.
"How can you be a coach when they have given a name to, let's say, anybody - a leg spinner? How can Gautam be a coach to a leg spinner or to the wicketkeeper? I think you have to manage. That's more important. As a manager you give them encouragement to say you can do it, because when you become a manager the young boys look up to you."
"How can my manager or captain give me that comfort? That's what the manager and captain's job is - to give comfort to the team and always say 'you can do better'. That's the way I look at it," he explained.
Kapil said his own philosophy as skipper was to back players going through a lean patch. "I think you have to give comfort to the people who are not playing well. If somebody made a hundred, I don't want to have a drink and dinner with him," he said.
"There are a lot of people there... As a captain I would like to have a drink with people or have dinner with those who are not performing.
"You need to give them confidence, and that's what happens. So I think it's very important as a captain that your role is not only about your performance, but also about putting the team together."
Gautam Gambhir’s next big assignment as head coach is the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the matches of which will be played from February 7 to March 8 across five venues in India and three in Sri Lanka.
(With PTI Inputs)
