'Jaise dikhte hain waise hain nahi' - Rohit Sharma exposes Gautam Gambhir's dressing room secrets

India National Cricket Team captain Rohit Sharma talked about the presence of Gautam Gambhir in the dressing room ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team. He also talked about the conversations he had with the new India head coach.

The senior players of the Indian team, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and others, have lined up with the Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff in Sri Lanka. The above-mentioned players weren't part of the T20I team and will now be seen in action during the ODI series.

This will be the first time that the senior Indian team will be working with Gautam Gambhir and his coaching staff, who were appointed after the T20 World Cup 2024. The ODI series marks the road to the Champions Trophy 2025 for the Men in Blue and captain Rohit Sharma and Gambhir will be aware of it.

Captain Rohit Sharma shared a great camaraderie with his previous coach, Rahul Dravid. The duo completely changed the atmosphere inside the dressing room, which was very joyous, and under the new coach Gautam Gambhir, who is touted as a serious character, things would be different.

Ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka, captain Rohit Sharma attended a conference and he was asked if he would be turning Gautam Gambhir, who is serious, into a joyful person as he did with Rahul Dravid, who was also a serious character, reported senior journalist Vimal Kumar.

Replying to this, Rohit Sharma said that Gautam Gambhir isn't the same as he is on the field, highlighting that the India coach is a joyful person inside the dressing room. He stated that things would be different with him as they were with the previous two coaches. He explained, as per the veteran journalist:

"Gauti bhai jaise dikhte hain waise dressing room mein hain nahi, kaafi hasi majak aur mauj masti karte hai. (Gauti bhai isn't actually the way he looks as he is a very cheerful person in the dressing room and he jokes around and has fun.)

"We shouldn’t try to get into his personal life, whether he wants to smile more or not. It’s going to be different with Gautam like it was different with Dravid and Ravi Shastri before him," he added.

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir engage in a 30-minute conversation on their first meet-up

Rohit Sharma also talked about the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as head coach, saying that the current head coach has worked with a lot of franchises and his presence in the dressing room will be of great help. He also revealed that when he arrived in Sri Lanka, Gautam Gambhir met him, and they talked about the plans going ahead. He revealed that they were engaged in a conversation for about 30 minutes about the same.

The first ODI between the teams will be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday (2nd August). India has already sealed the T20I series and will be hoping to win the ODI series. The ongoing series will also be a great opportunity for Indian team to identify the core group for the Champions Trophy. After winning the T20 World Cup 2024 as skipper, Rohit Sharma would be keen to win the next ICC event.