"You had Greg Chappell who was quite abrasive and aggressive and it didn’t work for those senior players"- Scott Styris cautions Gautam Gambhir
Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris has warned Gautam Gambhir of an aggressive style with the Greg Chappell example ahead of his Team India coaching debut. Gambhir's first assignment as India's head coach begins when they take on Sri Lanka in the opening T20I of the three-match series in Pallekele today.
Meanwhile, Greg Chappell coached India from 2005 to 2007 in what turned out to be a tumultuous period in Indian cricket. Apart from his controversies with mainly Sourav Ganguly and other senior players, the side also endured a dismal first-round exit in the 2007 ODI World Cup.
In an interview with News18, Styris detailed how Gambhir would look to get the ideal mix between John Wright (India's coach before Chappell) and Greg Chappell during his coaching tenure.
"I look at someone like John Wright when he was in charge of India, he had a very happy dressing room from what we could understand. But then you had Greg Chappell who was quite abrasive and aggressive and it didn’t work for those senior players. I think Gautam Gambhir will look to get that mix right," said Styris.
He added:
"I’ve always found captains will end up coaching just like their captaincy. And we all saw the way Gautam Gambhir was a captain. He was very abrasive, he was aggressive, he was all of those things you describe. And I don’t think it’ll be any different as a coach. He certainly has the experience. He’s an intelligent cricketer. If he can continue doing what he was doing with KKR, then India have got themselves a good coach."
Months before replacing Rahul Dravid as India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) win the IPL 2024 title as team mentor.
The 42-year-old also enjoyed an illustrious playing career for India, helping them win the 2007 T20 and 2011 ODI World Cups.
"Gautam Gambhir is responsible for the whole team taking them in a certain direction" - Scott Styris
Scott Styris feels Gautam Gambhir's role would be similar to a company's CEO - focusing on the overall direction of the team rather than one-on-one with the players.
The former batter will likely coach the side until the 2027 ODI World Cup, with several ICC events present between now and then.
"What we’re seeing a lot now is you have a head coach who’s almost like a CEO of a company. He sits above that. And then the coaches that do all the work, batting, bowling, fielding, et cetera, are all sitting underneath the head coach. So, I don’t expect the head coach to do that much one-on-one coaching. Gautam Gambhir is responsible for the whole team taking them in a certain direction," said Styris.
Team India has been in red-hot form this year, with the home Test series win against England followed by the T20 World Cup triumph as the high points.
They will play three T20Is followed by as many ODIs in 12 days in the Sri Lankan tour.