Gautam Gambhir remains one of the most talked-about coaches in the history of Indian cricket. Among many controversial instances during his tenure with the Indian National Cricket Team as the head coach, his relationship with the former India captain Rohit Sharma made headlines multiple times.
In the lead-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup, when Team India was in England for a white-ball series, it was largely reported that Gautam Gambhir was not on the same page with the senior cricketers, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. During an interaction on Jio Star, the head coach revealed his personal relationship with Rohit Sharma and the other captains he has so far worked with for the national cricket team.
Rohit Sharma was reportedly pushed to his international retirement
While India was in England this year, it was widely discussed across social media platforms and media verticals that the final ODI match of the series at Lord’s would be Rohit’s farewell match for the Men in Blue.
Possible declining relationships between the former captain and the chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir were pointed out as the main reason behind the retirement speculations.
It was assumed that the coach and chief selector had communicated with Rohit regarding this. What was the truth and what was only rumours is currently hard to tell, as Rohit remains active in the One Day Internationals.
Gautam Gambhir on his relationship with Rohit Sharma
Gautam Gambhir explained that his relationship with Rohit Sharma was founded way before, when both of them used to play for India. When Rohit first came into the international scene, Gambhir was a senior cricketer. So for years, they knew each other very well as a cricket person and as human beings.
“I don’t think so. See, Rohit’s and my relationship wasn’t just captain and coach. Rohit’s and my relationship, when Rohit came into the team, I was a senior player at that time. So Rohit’s and my relationship goes back then.”
“Rohit has known me since then. It is not like Rohit and I had a new relationship, or that I came as a coach from a foreign country who has neither seen Rohit play, nor knows Rohit individually or personally, what kind of person he is,” Gambhir said.
Clash of thoughts between Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir?
The coach further mentioned that his job as the India coach became very easy as he shared the same pitch with the captain of the team in the past. As Gambhir and Sharma are two different persons, there could have been differences in opinions and thoughts as well while working together for the same team.
“So often when you have played together, things become very easy. And in fact, he knows my thinking; I know his thinking. Because tomorrow I might have some other thinking, the captain might have some other thinking, but ultimately, whatever is in the best interest of the team, if that’s the final decision, then nothing can be better than that,” Gambhir added.
Source: cricketaddictor.com
