Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav are very aggressive: Pragyan Ojha's strong take ahead of Sri Lanka T20Is

Former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha expressed his excitement about Gautam Gambhir's appointment as head coach of the Indian national cricket team. Pragyan Ojha stated that Gambhir will take the India national cricket team to new heights, drawing parallels with former head coach Gary Kirsten's tenure.

Rahul Dravid resigned from the head coach role after leading the team to victory in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach before the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka. The former Indian opener will continue in the role until the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.

The Men in Blue will play three T20I matches and as many ODI matches during the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, starting on July 27. Suryakumar Yadav will lead the Indian T20I team after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format. However, Suryakumar did not make it to the ODI squad, which will be led by Rohit Sharma.

Expectation That Has Come Up Now - Pragyan Ojha

In a conversation with SportsNow, Pragyan Ojha said that there will be high expectations for Gautam Gambhir. Ojha stated that the situation is similar to the one after the 2011 World Cup when Gary Kirsten departed as head coach.

"I think the most important thing is the expectation that has come up now. It is quite similar to what we saw after 2011. Because everybody wanted Gary Kirsten to continue. But then, you know, things changed. We had a new coach. So, I think after the World Cup win, there will be similar expectation, there will be similar interest whenever India goes on to play this format," said Pragyan.

Gautam Gambhir didn't have experience as a head coach at international or Indian Premier League (IPL) levels. The former batter mentored the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for two seasons before returning to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2024. He guided KKR to victory in the recent IPL season.

Gautam Gambhir Was An Aggressive Player - Pragyan Ojha

Pragyan Ojha stated that Gautam Gambhir is expected to bring an aggressive approach as a coach. Ojha added that Gambhir's style will suit the T20 format well. He noted that the presence of Gambhir could benefit the Indian cricket team.

"The most important thing I would say is Gautam Gambhir being very aggressive as a coach, the way he was as a player. I think it will be very interesting because T20 format now needs players to be a little aggressive. If you see Rohit also was talking about players changing their temperament and being more aggressive irrespective of the situation. So it would be very interesting because the captain and the coach are very aggressive, very street smart," Pragyan added.

Pragyan Ojha played 24 T20Is, 18 ODIs, and 6 Tests in international cricket. He took 113 wickets, 21 wickets, and 10 wickets in the three formats, respectively. He picked up 89 wickets in 92 IPL matches at an economy rate of 7.37. He last played for India in a Test match against the West Indies in November 2013.

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