'Will make different combination than Rohit-Dravid...' - Robin Uthappa warns India stars of Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir duo

Rahul Dravid's tenure as Team India's head coach was not only defined by the success on the field but also by the camaraderie the players shared. Throughout Dravid's tenure from 2021 to June 2024, the Indian dressing room remained a positive place.

Time and again, the Indian players echoed those sentiments by explicitly highlighting that it is important to enjoy each other's success on the field. And the positive environment in the dressing room helped the team deliver excellent performance across all the formats. In 2023, India won the Asia Cup and reached the finals of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup.

Earlier this year, India thrashed England in the five-match Test series before winning the T20 World Cup after a gap of 17 years. The onus will now be on newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir to ensure that the team not only continues to perform well in all the three formats but the dressing room environment remains positive as well.

'He has been an incredible man manager':

Gautam Gambhir's record as a player and a captain is incredible and he will now be looking to replicate that success as a head coach as well. And as the cricketing fraternity eagerly waits to see how the former India opener performs as a head coach, his former India and IPL teammate Robin Uthappa has backed him to do well.

Uthappa, who played under Gautam Gambhir's captaincy at Kolkata Knight Riders, hailed him as an incredible man-manager and a thorough gentlemen. The former India batsman said that players will have no problems in approaching Gambhir for help and said that his former IPL captain looks after his players really well.

"He has been an incredible man manager. The narrative that is set about him as a player on social media is one that is quite 'Gambhir'. But, I think, individually, he is a thorough gentleman. He will be absolutely approachable.

"He is someone who is always available, he is very empathetic and he is there for his players. He looks after his players really well and he is someone who provides security for the group. We have seen that, not just as a captain, but in his mentorship roles at LSG and KKR. We have seen the results he has produced with both teams," Uthappa told IndiaToday.in.

Uthappa further said that although Gambhir will have a different approach than his predecessor Dravid, he will be effective.

"I don't think his leadership style will change very much. I just think that his passion and the intensity that he brings to this team will be different. He will expect high standards, and he will maintain a high standard himself as a leader.

"I think he will be a very fair leader and he is someone who provides security to his group. So, I think Rohit and Gautam will make a different combination than Rohit and Dravid, but I think it will be as effective," Uthappa said.

Gambhir's first assignment as the head coach of the Indian team will be the upcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, scheduled to be played from July 27. It will be followed by a three-match ODI series between the two teams.