"We’ll have disagreements, but the final call will always be the captain’s" - Gautam Gambhir backs Rohit Sharma as 'general' of the team
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has opened up on the kind of equation he wants to build with Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma. While admitting that there are bound to be differences of opinion at times, he asserted that the final call will always be made by the captain as he is the 'general' of the team.
Gambhir's stint as India's head coach began during the Men in Blue's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. Under new captain Suryakumar Yadav, India won the T20I series 3-0 but lost the subsequent ODI rubber 2-0 under Rohit's leadership.
Gambhir and Rohit have now joined forces for the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home, which begins in Chennai on Thursday, September 19.
Speaking to JioCinema in the build-up to the series, the head coach gave an insight into the kind of working relationship he expects to have with the captain. The 42-year-old said (as quoted by News 18):
“I have always been a big believer when I was playing when I was mentoring that it is always the captain’s team. Because it’s the captain that leads the team on the field. Yes, me and the entire support staff are there to help the team, help the captain in whatever capacity that we can and there will be times when obviously we’ll have disagreements on a lot of things. But then ultimately the final call will always be the captain’s call because he is the general there."
Gambhir added that while there might be disagreements between him and Rohit on certain matters, the ultimate goal of both will be to work for the betterment of the team. About seeing the bigger picture, he said:
“More importantly, our intentions, our intent and our heart are in the right place more often than not, the decisions which we make together will always be in the best interest of the team and they will always be I think we’ll have more good decisions than bad decisions."
Gambhir and Rohit were part of the Indian team that won the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa. While the former top-scored in the final against Pakistan with 75 runs, the latter also made crucial contributions with the willow in his maiden World Cup.
"He’s got a lot of respect in that dressing room" - Gambhir on Rohit the leader
Sharing his thoughts on Rohit, Gambhir termed him a good human and a great guy who enjoys respect in the Indian dressing room. Praising the Indian Test and ODI captain, he commented in the same interaction:
“Rohit we all know the kind of leader he is, the kind of human he is, the kind of person he is and I’ve always believed that a good human becomes a good leader. So he’s a great guy, I think a lot of people have, he’s got a lot of respect in that dressing room and that is the first and foremost quality of a leader when you earn that respect not only by your actions on the field but the kind of person you are."
Under Rohit, India won the 2024 T20 World Cup earlier this year. Following the triumph in the ICC event, the 37-year-old announced his retirement from T20Is.