Indian coach Gautam Gambhir (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) If you were to judge Gautam Gambhir purely through the lens of India’s Test results, you might assume that his tenure is in a spiral. India have just suffered a brutal 408-run defeat to South Africa in Guwahati, losing the home series 2-0, and the call for a stand-alone red-ball coach is louder than ever. Yet Gambhir’s white-ball record tells a different story altogether. This is the same man who has already led India to the 2025 Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup while pushing the team towards a much more adventurous limited-overs identity. That’s the version of ‘GG’ that Ravichandran Ashwin chose to highlight during a recent YouTube conversation with AB de Villiers. What started as a question on Gambhir soon turned into Ashwin’s endorsement of India’s evolving T20 plan.
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Ashwin did not hold back in assessing Gambhir’s impact. “I think GG, the white-ball coach, has already left a bit of a stamp,” he remarked, a line that takes on more significance given the current climate. According to Ashwin, Gambhir broke the old hierarchies in T20 cricket and favored bolder and more proactive cricketers. The former KKR skipper seems to be reshaping the Indian limited-overs persona with the same intensity he once brought to the franchise dressing rooms. Ashwin then widened the lens and credited the IPL for fueling this shift. “This is a big credit to the IPL… it has produced some amazing white-ball cricketers for India,” he said. For Gambhir, the IPL is not just a tournament; has been the backbone of his coaching journey from Lucknow to KKR and now to a national side full of franchise talent. And for Ashwin, that pipeline is perfectly symbolized by one name: Abhishek Sharma. “That’s one cricketer I’d like to watch out for in the T20 format again. His actions around the format will determine where India go in the T20 World Cup,” Ashwin noted, highlighting Abhishek as a key link between domestic innovation and international ambitions. The discussion then shifted to the philosophy of India’s new direction. Ashwin emphasized the value of unbridled batting, something he himself craved during his stint in T20 internationals. “The fearless brand of cricket that we always wanted to happen,” he said, delighted that the innings had finally come after his retirement. Ashwin also touched on the delicate balance that every modern T20 side needs: controlled aggression. With Suryakumar Yadav leading the pack, he believes India have a team capable of intimidating any opposition. He admitted that it will have flaws, but with Bumrah anchoring the defensive bowling and a well-rounded team around him, India seem well set. Amidst the clamor surrounding India’s Test decline, Ashwin essentially divided Gambhir’s coaching tenure into two contrasting chapters. One is under strict scrutiny after the Guwahati collapse. The latter already boasts a Champions Trophy, an Asia Cup, an elite T20 captaincy, a world premiership death bowler and a fearless left-arm opener who is redefining the top order. And that, as Ashwin suggests, is the version of Gambhir that has already carved a clear imprint on Indian cricket.
