‘He understands very well that…’ – Vijay Dahiya’s bold remark on Gautam Gambhir-Virat Kohli bond ahead of their reunion

While Gautam Gambhir has taken charge of the Indian team, many still doubt his credentials as a head coach. The main reason behind it is that the former India skipper had no prior experience of being the head coach of any team let alone an international team before the BCCI named him as Rahul Dravid‘s replacement.

The only experience that Gautam Gambhir has as a part of the backroom staff is being the mentor at two IPL franchises. In 2022 and 2023, he was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants before joining Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024. He did earn a lot of praise for his work at both franchises.

During his tenure, LSG qualified for the playoffs in both seasons and missed out this year. On the other hand, KKR went on to win the IPL title this year. The BCCI will be hoping that Gautam Gambhir delivers a similar performance as the India head coach as well and justifies its bold decision.

Many including former India head coach Ravi Shastri believe that Gautam Gambhir’s main task will be man-management. And one of the men that he will have to deal with is none other than his former India teammate Virat Kohli. Over the years, Gambhir and Kohli have had a number of altercations between themselves and it would be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming days.

And while time will reveal how Gambhir and Kohli get along, former India and Delhi cricketer Vijay Dahiya believes that both the former teammates will be dependent on each other. Dahiya said that while Kohli will rely on Gambhir’s inputs to get better, the latter will be relying on the former as well as Rohit Sharma to get good results, especially in SENA countries.

“(On why Kohli and Gambhir will acknowledge their dependence on each other) Because Virat wants to get better. And Gautam understands very well that to win abroad in Test cricket, especially in SENA countries, India need Virat and Rohit,” Vijay Dahiya was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

It’s time for Indian cricket to dominate: Vijay Dahiya

Vijay Dahiya, who played with Gautam Gambhir and also served as an assistant coach when the former opener was playing at KKR, said that the cricketing fraternity is eagerly waiting to see India’s playing style under the new head coach. He highlighted Gambhir’s much-talked-about winner mentality and said that the time has come for Indian cricket to dominate.

“Everybody is talking about how he has a winner’s mentality. So you want to see how he helps India develop a style of play, a mentality akin to what Australia had in the 1990s and 2000s – that we can win by playing a certain style of cricket no matter what situation it is. It’s time for Indian cricket to dominate,” said Dahiya.

Meanwhile, Gambhir’s tenure as the head coach has started on a perfect note. India have clinched the ongoing three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka by winning the first two games. The third game is scheduled to take place on Tuesday before both teams play a three-match ODI series against each other.

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