The former World Cup-winning captain of India, Kapil Dev, has spoken in detail about the tenure of the national side’s new head coach, Gautam Gambhir, who replaced Rahul Dravid in the seat after the end of the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States of America (USA) which they went on to win under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.
That was the start of Gambhir’s coaching era as they lost their first ODI series in Sri Lanka after a long time before gaining a 0-3 whitewash victory over the same opposition. India started the home season with two gigantic Test wins over Bangladesh in Chennai and Kanpur before recording another 3-0 win in three T20Is against the same opponent.
But things went downhill for the blue brigade, as they lost the three Tests at home against New Zealand, which is their first home Test whitewash against any opponent. They went on to lose the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 down under by a 3-1 margin, which is their first defeat against Australia in the red-ball series since 2014/15.
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All of these resulted in India getting disqualified from the qualification of the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 at Lord’s as both Australia and South Africa got promoted for the encounter in June 2025.
“The coaches are not on the field”- Kapil Dev supports Gautam Gambhir
Kapil Dev has taken a look at the coaching period of Gautam Gambhir. Many set players, including the wicket-keeper of the side, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill, are set to make an appearance in the Rajji Trophy 2024/25 later this month, as the pressure has increased for the other international players to participate in the domestic tournaments.
Kapil Dev, the World Cup-winning leader for India in 1983, has stressed the expectations of the fans on their coach but reckoned that the onus ultimately would lie on the players to perform.
“The expectations are high. The coaches are not on the field, but the captain and the team are on the ground. A new coach will come out with his ideas and hope it will serve the country in a better sense. If he’s not, then people will raise their finger.” The 66-year-old Indian captain expressed to Gulf News on the development.
Gambhir refused to confirm the position of their regular Test captain, Rohit Sharma, for the fifth New Year’s Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). On the morning of the game, Jasprit Bumrah, who led the side in the absence of Rohit in Perth for a 295-run victory, walked out for the toss and claimed that their opening batter opted out of the clash due to his struggle in the series with 31 runs in five innings at an average of 6.20 with the best score of ten.
Kapil Dev has also touched on how the team was under the calm demeanor of Rahul Dravid, who had a different way of managing things, while Gambhir comes with an aggressive approach.
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“Gambhir is a slightly temperamental person. He’s different from Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Every coach has his way of thinking, so let’s hope he will do better for the country.” The former all-rounder of India, Kapil Dev, addressed.
The next assignment for the former opening batter will be the five T20Is against England, alongside three ODIs, before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, scheduled to take place on February 19 in Dubai. All of these will decide his future in the position.