Gambhir says international experience not necessary for success as T20 batting coach 

The former India opener reckons a T20 batting coach's main job is try and get a player into positive mindset.

Gautam Gambhir | GettyGautam Gambhir, the former India batsman-turned-politician, believes one doesn't necessarily need a great deal of playing experience at the international level to become a successful batting coach in T20 cricket. 

Assessing the format's nitty-gritty, Gambhir said a coach's main job is to try and get a player to leave self-doubts out of the park and approach game-scenarios with a positive mindset. 

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"Probably you can just have a different T20 batting coach, just for that particular format. It is really not true that someone who hasn't played international cricket or who hasn't played enough cricket, can't become a successful coach," said Gambhir on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Connected'.

"What ultimately a coach does in a T20 format is frees your mindset and feeds your mindset and make you hit those goals and those big shots," added the 38-year-old, who played a key role in helping India win the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and was a successful opener and captain for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL. 

Especially in T20 leagues, where tournaments are played in short windows around the international calendar, Gambhir's views are vindicated when coaches don't focus as much on the technical side of the game as they do on the mental aspects of batting. 

"No one teaches you how to hit a lap shot or a reverse lap shot, no coach can do that. If someone is trying to do that to a player, he is harming him more than actually making him a better player."

"It's not important that you have played a lot of cricket, for you to be a very successful coach - probably, that's right for a selector, but not for a coach," Gambhir concluded. 

(Inputs from PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 20 May, 2020

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