"You can see him as a coach when he is with Suryakumar Yadav" - Sanjay Manjrekar's massive claim on Gautam Gambhir ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 1st Test
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar opined that head coach Gautam Gambhir will relish working with a young captain in the form of Shubman Gill following Rohit Sharma's Test retirement. The ace opening batter was named the red-ball captain ahead of the crucial five-match Test series against England, scheduled to begin on Friday, June 20, at Headingley, Leeds.
Gautam Gambhir has a considerably young Test squad to work with as all three of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin retired before the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. The head coach is familiar with working with youngsters in the T20I side, taking over from Rahul Dravid after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The former India opener has made it a point to incorporate youngsters like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Rinku Singh, among others, in the recent past.
Sanjay Manjrekar noted that there was a distinct difference when Gambhir worked with a younger candidate like Suryakumar Yadav in the T20I side compared to Rohit Sharma in the longer formats in the past.
"Gautam Gambhir, as coach, will enjoy a young captain with him. Because you see him as a coach when he is with Suryakumar Yadav as the Indian captain, versus, say, a Rohit Sharma. So, he is going to enjoy that job. There is going to be a beter kind of relationship between the captain and the coach," Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.
In the past, Gambhir has worked with the likes of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer during his coaching stints with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"You go with the feeling that you have got nothing to lose" - Sanjay Manjrekar
The Men in Blue head into England amid a lot of uncertainty, especially regarding their batting order. The departures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have left a huge void in the top and the middle. Sai Sudharsan and Karun Nair were named in the squad to restructure the batting unit for the Test series.
Apart from the pressure of leading the team in a major overseas tour, Gill also has to deal with his own poor form. His concerning numbers away from home have been well-documented, and a shift to No.4 may prove to be the spark he needs to revive his Test career.
"The advantage that Shubman Gill has, and this team has, it was a bit like the team of the 90s when we went to New Zealand, where Mohammad Azharuddin, out of the blue, was made the captain. You go with the feeling that you have got nothing to lose. The big names have gone, Bumrah was not the captain, it was almost like Gill had to do the job," Manjrekar said.
This marks Shubman Gill's maiden red-ball assignment as captain in international cricket. The ace batter led India for the first time during the tour of Zimbabwe in 2024, and was the vice-captain of the side that lifted the 2025 Champions Trophy.