Chappell then, Gambhir now

I start writing about the enigmatic Indian coach Gautam Gambhir and the image of Greg Chappell stalks me in the background. No two people can be as different in style, persona, image and achievements as these two, yet they are getting fused in my mind. The only apparent common thread is that like Gambhir is doing now, Greg too once coached the Indian team.

Remember the star-saturated Indian team of 2004-05, the days of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and the appointment of the legendary Greg as the Indian coach. The grace and elegance with which the Australian batted matched his eloquence, technical knowledge of the game and the mesmeric attention he got from people he spoke to.

That euphoric beginning of his coaching stint ended a couple of years later in anguish and a divided team, insecure and suspicious of even their own shadows they once may have been in love with. Greg had joined the team with the intention of getting it purged of star culture; all he finally achieved was a humiliated team in the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies and widespread confusion and chaos that hurt Indian cricket badly. Greg was firm in his belief till the end that India’s problem was not lack of talent, but the star culture that stymied the growth of newcomers and established a hierarchy that harmed team spirit and harmony.

Greg may have diagnosed the problem, but his methods to solve them lacked sensitivity and a proper understanding of the Indian psyche that confuses servility as being respectful. His was an “outsider’s” construct of a culture that loathes change, especially if it is sudden and swift. What probably let him down was the pulpit of a higher moral ground that he took, which blinded him to a world he could barely grasp and made no effort to understand. He did not have the instincts of the man he replaced, the New Zealander John Wright, who ushered in progressive changes without disturbing the status quo.

It took the sagacity of Garry Kirsten to calm the turbulence caused by Greg’s ham-handed methods and the Indian team went on to win the 2011 World Cup. The last of foreign coaches was the Englishman Duncan Fletcher, who made no effort to hide the fact that he was an outsider and disinterested in following any method, Indian or foreign.

Finally, the experienced Ravi Shastri reintroduced the team to the “Indian way”, where cricketing acumen forges with native wisdom to sustain a culture of continuity with only those repairs done that don’t threaten its foundations.

In this culture of continuity and entrenched hierarchy, which gives primacy to stardom regardless of the strength of the team, Gambhir’s stint as coach coincided with the declining prowess of its major stars, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. At 44 years of age and a history of behaviour that does not always conform to societal norms of being civil, Gambhir is an interesting case study. In a candid interview to ESPNcricinfo’s Sidharth Monga in 2009, when he was an important member of the Indian team, Gambhir bared his heart out, including his insecurities and impatient ways to deal with them.

He said he was built that way, where he always felt he was not given his due despite having done very well. He had performed exceptionally well in under-14, under-19 and even in the Ranji Trophy, yet was not picked to play World Cups for India. His not being part of the 2007 World Cup shocked him. But he did not let his angry and impatient temperament interfere with his training and finally made it back to the team, playing a major role in India winning the 2007 T-20 and the 2011 one-day World Cups.

Gambhir understands the value of hard work and the despair of rejection while transforming his anger into a passion for doing well. Which he did, even if with moderate success, while playing for India and capping it up with leading the Kolkata Knight Riders to three IPL trophies, two as captain and the third as its mentor. Even then, it is hard to imagine him becoming the coach of the Indian team without his being a former BJP MP and the fact that the supreme leader of the Indian cricket administration is Home Minister Amit Shah’s son, Jay Shah.

These political connections give Gambhir power that would be the envy of past coaches. It is obvious that he wanted to shatter the star culture in the team, much like Chappell attempted in his two-year stint two decades ago. His discomfort with Virat, Rohit and Ashwin was often reported in the media and the outstanding success of a new, young team in England gives him the legitimacy that he lacked so far.

Unlike Greg, he is now in control of a new, young team that is still finding its feet and except for possibly Shubman Gill, none of them are anywhere near the stardom that Kohli or Rohit achieved. In his ESPN interview, Gambhir’s honest confessions revealed a man aware of his weaknesses and how to work around them. Will he be a guide and mentor to restless, insecure, talented youngsters, scanning them with an unbiased eye so that they could achieve their maximum potential? Or will he turn into another Greg Chappell and stifle the desires of any emerging star that could destabilise the team? The next chapter of this story is teaming with possibilities.

— The writer is the author of ‘Not Quite Cricket’ and ‘Not Just Cricket’

Features