Gautam Gambhir: Mind Over Matter

FOR A JOB where the incumbent is under constant scrutiny, Gautam Gambhir is a good choice. He does not mince words while responding to media questions and seems unaware that his answers can border on being curt. Before him, Rahul Dravid's mild and unflappable man­ner seemed an extension of his reputation as the "wall" in his playing days. Before him, Ravi Shastri's com­bativeness and profile as a commentator made him a difficult target. Though the India coach is always fair game in a cricket-obsessed nation, Gambhir had more to prove.

Schooled in Delhi cricket, Gambhir is outspoken and pugnacious. His career statistics may not rival top Indian cricketing stars, ranking 17th in the list of most runs in Tests. But the 4,154 runs and eight Test centuries he scored and the 5,238 runs and 11 centuries he accumulated in One Day Internationals (ODIs) con­tain crucial knocks. So is the case with the seemingly modest 932 runs in T20 internationals. He starred in India's T20 and ODI World Cup wins in 2007 and 2011 and led Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL glory in 2012 and 2014. It can be said he knows something about winning.

After bidding goodbye to all cricket in 2018, Gambhir won the East Delhi Lok Sabha seat the next year on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. His win might have been facilitated by a Modi wave, but being MP is not easy. He did well, opening community kitchens and re­sponded in typical fashion when his initiative to pro­vide anti-viral drugs during the Covid pandemic was criticised, saying he is ready for the consequences. "All I can say is that the Gautam Gambhir Foundation will keep working for the peo­ple," he told the media.

Politics is a bruising contact sport and the experience will be handy in Gambhir's current job. The tour of England was always going to be a crucial test of the team and coach. Minus Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and having lost a home series to New Zealand and overseas in Australia, the moment of reckoning was at hand. Gambhir's re­cord as coach in India's ODI and T20 campaigns is much better, but the red-ball game was the litmus test. Knives were out as pundits and me­dia commentators waited for a young captain and a new coach to stumble.

After coming up short—despite five centuries—with the batting in the first Test at Leeds, Gambhir opted for all-rounders at Edgbaston, leaving out spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, while pacer Jasprit Bumrah was rested. The selection was immedi­ately criticised for ignoring specialists. Then, on day four of the Test, commen­tators grumbled that India was batting too long and too slowly. On the final day, as no wickets fell initially af­ter a rain-delayed start, they griped that Mohammed Siraj was being used.

As things turned out, they were soon silenced by Akash Deep's magical spell. It should have been obvious actually—Akash Deep was on a roll and it made sense to give him the ball. As it turned out, Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar got crucial wickets, but it was Akash Deep's day and others were the supporting cast.

Even after the match, some experts insisted Shubman Gill's 269 and 161 covered up likely batting weaknesses. Jadeja showed why he is so valua­ble and Sundar bowled well and batted solidly. The best cure for criticism is winning and Gambhir showed he is capable of shrewd choices. More importantly, he displayed a capacity to take risks and not think about the price of failure. To be fair, his predecessors Dravid and Shastri held their nerve too, but Gambhir had more to prove.

Backed by selectors led by former India and Mumbai pacer Ajit Agarkar, Gambhir has his task cut out. The win at Edgbaston would be gratifying but the mission is far from over.