The veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who has played under Rohit Sharma in the longest format for quite a few years and also during last year’s ODI World Cup at home, has touched the different leadership qualities the Nagpur-born has compared to Gautam Gambhir, the current head coach of the side under whom he is going to play the Bangladesh Test series.
With the exit of their former head coach, Rahul Dravid, the former opening batter of the Blue Brigade took charge of the role, as under his tenure, India started grandly with a T20I series win in Sri Lanka but fell terribly during the ODI series, where Rohit Sharma led the side.
While Dravid was quite a compact and calm person, the Delhi-born is expected to bring the fire and excitement of the players during future games, something which they witnessed under another former head coach, Ravi Shastri. Gautam is generally known for his different dynamics of the game, where he has always been straightforward in making a decision and backing the same.
“Rohit Sharma keeps it light, but Gauti Bhai”- Ravichandran Ashwin
Gambhir came into the limelight by becoming the new head coach on the back of his mentorship role, which helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to win their third IPL title, and the first one since 2014, as he displayed so much belief in his young players to get the best out of them.
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It was he and Rohit Sharma who collectively decided to go with Suryakumar Yadav as the permanent T20I captain of the side. The former will have a huge calendar ahead, as the team is looking forward to gaining their hat-trick of series win in Australia in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, whose victory will lead them to their third consecutive final of the World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
Ahead of their two-match Test series at home against Bangladesh, Ashwin shared his thoughts on the difference in leadership skills between Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir. In a conversation with journalist, Vimal Kumar, the Chennai-born pointed out that both of them carry the same sharpness, but have a different approach to leadership.
“Gauti bhai is very intense. There are similarities between Rohit and Gauti bhai’s leadership, but Rohit keeps it light. Gauti bhai is an intense person.” The veteran all-rounder expressed in the video.
He, however, feels that these differences should be acknowledged, as the consistency of both of their passion for the game will develop Indian cricket in the end.
“He (Gambhir) is very passionate about Indian cricket, just like Rahul (Dravid) bhai. Both are very passionate about Indian cricket, but we believe both are different.” Ashwin noted. “Yes, they have different personalities. But people are like, ‘MS Dhoni was cool, so everyone should be cool‘. It isn’t like that. Everyone has their methods, and we should encourage that.”
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Rohit Sharma wasn’t the captain when they won the last Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) during the 2020-21 season in Australia, and his eyes will be on that title for the third straight time. He also missed out on the final of the last WTC at the Kennington Oval.
But, in the end, he was successful in helping India end their drought for an ICC trophy after 11 years, as they lifted their second T20 World Cup in 2024 after getting the better of South Africa in the final in Barbados. For the present, he will aim to start the home season terrifically with a series win over Bangladesh, where he will get both Gambhir and Ashwin in his side.