Gautam Gambhir Reacts To MS Dhoni's Appointment As India's Mentor For T20 World Cup 2021

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, who was the target of trolling on social media after BCCI announced that his 2011 World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni will be the mentor of the Indian squad that was named for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021, reacted to his appointment.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah was the one to announce MS Dhoni’s appointment saying that he had a word with the former Indian skipper Dhoni during his stay in Dubai and later captain, vice-captain, and the team management were informed about the same, and all of them are currently on the same page regarding MS Dhoni’s role for the big event.

Speaking about the Dhoni appointment, Gautam Gambhir tried to elaborate on the reason behind choosing ‘captain cool’ for this role.

“I am sure his (Dhoni’s) role will be defined. You’ve got the head coach, you’ve got the assistant coach, you’ve got the bowling coach. So I am sure there has to be something from Virat Kohli or from Ravi Shastri that they would want apart from what they already have. Because India has been very successful in T20 cricket. It’s not that India struggled in T20 cricket. Had India struggled in T20 cricket, they might have had to get someone from outside,” Gambhir told Star Sports Network.

MS Dhoni’s Experience Of Handling The Pressure Could Be A Huge Advantage For These Young Players: Gautam Gambhir

Gambhir further pointed out that MS Dhoni was probably appointed as the mentor of the Indian T20 World Cup squad due to his experience and ability of handling pressure in crunch moments. He felt India has been missing out under pressure given that they lost the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and the semi-final of the 2019 ICC World Cup.

During his captaincy career, MSD had faced a lot of pressure situations and he overcame them with smart tactics and Gambhir feels he can impart that knowledge to the youngsters in the Indian team as they vie for their second T20 World Cup trophy.

“But probably, MS’ experience or probably his mindset of handling pressure in those crunch games is probably the reason why they have got him as a mentor. Not purely from a skill point of view, because these guys have got all the skills to go out there and deliver.

It’s just about how to handle pressure in those important games. Because India have actually missed out on those important games, especially the knockout games. So probably MS’ experience of captaining the side or probably handling the pressure in those important games could be a huge advantage for these young players,” Gambhir said.

Dhoni was also the Indian captain when India last won an ICC trophy, back in 2013 when they beat England to lift the Champions Trophy.

Also Read: MS Dhoni’s Addition As Mentor Will Help Virat Kohli – Pragyan Ojha