"They Never Look At Foreign Players As Head Coach" - Gautam Gambhir Advocates India To Follow Australia
Published - 14 Dec 2023, 05:48 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:23 AM
Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir commended Australia for consistently appointing Australian coaches, highlighting the trust placed in former players. Gambhir suggested that India and Pakistan should prioritize coaches from within their respective countries.
Australia secured their sixth ICC World Cup title by defeating India by six wickets in the 2023 final. Team India last won their World Cup in 2011 under former South African cricketer Gary Kirsten. Duncan Fletcher was the head coach when India won the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Their Head Coach Is Always Australian – Gautam Gambhir
In a conversation with Sportskeeda, Gautam Gambhir emphasized the importance of having coaches from their respective nations. Gambhir pointed out Australia’s history of having Australian coaches, such as Justin Langer and Andrew McDonald.
“Who was the last non-Australian coach of the men’s team? Their head coach is always Australian. They had Justin Langer, now Andrew McDonald and before them some other Australian. I said this a year back that India and Pakistan should have coaches from their own country and people had criticized it a lot. A lot of people said that we won under Gary Kirsten [as coach in 2011],” Gambhir told Sportskeeda.
We Do Not Have To Look Outside – Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir highlighted India’s rich cricketing history and the depth of experience within the nation. The former Indian opener emphasized the emotional connection Rahul Dravid brings to coaching, which is something foreign coaches may not share.
“The emotion that Rahul Dravid will have when he wears that white or blue T-shirt, no foreign coach will have that. We have such a rich history, we do not have to look outside. We are not a nation that has started playing cricket 10 years back. We have players who have won us World Cups.”
The BCCI extended Rahul Dravid’s tenure as the head coach, despite the team’s loss in the final. Additionally, the extensions of Vikram Rathour as batting coach, Paras Mhambrey as bowling coach, and T Dilip as fielding coach were confirmed by the BCCI.
