"He actually does, amazingly enough. But not the dugouts" - LSG fielding coach Jonty Rhodes opens up on whether Gautam Gambhir ever smiles
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fielding coach Jonty Rhodes has claimed that former team mentor Gautam Gambhir does smile off the field despite maintaining a serious look in the dugout. Rhodes became LSG's fielding coach in 2023 and worked with Gambhir during that season.
LSG finished third and qualified for a second consecutive season to the playoffs after which Gambhir moved to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as mentor for IPL 2024.
Talking on the sidelines of the Pro Cricket League's pre-launch, Rhodes was asked if Gambhir ever sports a smile, to which he responded:
"He actually does, amazingly enough. But not the dugouts. Not at all. But that is important, because you can't have a coach who smiles when you take a wicket and then frowns when you drop a catch. You know, so that that sort of consistency, if it's the GG deadpan look, then you would rather have that sort of consistency. But yeah, he's certainly in the team environment off the field. He's certainly someone who is happy to smile."
After helping LSG qualify for the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 as their mentor, Gambhir performed the role to help KKR win a third IPL title this year.
Meanwhile, LSG struggled without Gambhir's presence, missing the playoffs for the first time in IPL 2024.
"He's somebody who's not gonna be lenient with anybody unless it's required" - Jonty Rhodes on Gautam Gambhir
Jonty Rhodes believes Gautam Gambhir's passion for winning will ensure he isn't lenient towards any player. Gambhir took over as Team India's head coach after Rahul Dravid's departure upon winning the 2024 T20 World Cup.
However, he endured mixed results in his first assignment as India coach during the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue won the T20I series 3-0 before suffering a shocking 0-2 defeat in the ODIs.
"I know how passionate he is. You know, he looks for excellence on and off the field, but he doesn't expect players to do something that he never did or he won't do. So, I think from that point of view, he's somebody who's not gonna be lenient with anybody unless it's required because he's expecting. He just wants excellence. I mean, he wants the team to win, and it's not for his record or for what he can achieve," said Rhodes during the same interaction.
He added:
"Every team that he's involved in, he's wanted to win desperately, and you see the way that he bats, the way that he captains. He's so passionate, so involved in the game. I think any time there's a change, whether it be the leadership from a captaincy point of view or from a coach and management, it's going to take an adjustment. So you know, once they find their feet, we know India has the strength and the talent pool and the depth of talent to certainly allow him to hit the ground and pick up speed very quickly in his coaching career."
Gambhir's first Test assignment as India's coach will be the upcoming two-match home series against Bangladesh, starting September 19.