“Gautam appears to be a sound choice. I have seen him grow from his India ‘A’ days till the end of his international career and then as mentor to a victorious KKR unit. He deserves a chance,” Sandeep Patil, the former India batsman, coach and chief selector, told me recently.

Positive talk has always outweighed pessimism over coaches or consultants, before play is called on their new assignments in Indian cricket. Views from experts provide wholesome fodder for cricket reporters.

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Recent talk surrounding Gambhir takes me back to the time when Bob Simpson was appointed consultant of the Indian cricket team and travelled to the 1999 World Cup in England with the Mohammed Azharuddin-led, Aunshuman Gaekwad-coached team. Everyone wanted to know how Simpson would help Indian cricket as a consultant especially after he was replaced by Australia post their 1996 World Cup campaign which ended in a runners-up finish. Dean Jones, the Australian batsman who played a fair bit during Simpson’s coaching years, told me then, “Simmo will dot the Is and cross the Ts for India.” Simpson’s consultancy tenure didn’t last long, though.

After the disappointing 1999 World Cup, the BCCI made Kapil Dev coach; a move that coincided with Sachin Tendulkar’s second stint as captain of India. There was a fair bit of optimism over the new coach doing well and that can naturally put the concerned coach under pressure. 

But Kapil displayed more excitement than worry before his first Test as coach—against NZ at Mohali. India, after all, hadn’t won a Test for eight months. “It feels good to embark on a new adventure here. I don’t feel like a coach but one of the players,” Kapil said.

John Wright, the Zealander, came in with a lot to fix in Indian cricket in late 2000. There were not many naysayers before his appointment as India’s first foreign coach and was expected to make a good fist of it. Pundits who knew him before he signed the dotted line were confident that his low-profile nature would bode well for Indian cricket and so it did. Ravi Shastri certainly felt so. “Having seen him as player and as captain of New Zealand, I know his work ethic will be strong and demanding,” wrote Shastri in Cricket Talk magazine.

Wright’s successor Greg Chappell arrived in 2005 with much fanfare and optimism over Indian cricket going to a new level. Success at the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean was paramount after a runners-up finish in the previous one in Southern Africa. Chappell’s reputation as a top-class batsman and incisive mind led to people feeling confident that all holes will be plugged. Bishan Singh Bedi welcomed Chappell’s entry by saying that he would be a tough nut and would brook no nonsense from the players. Frank Tyson, the former England pace terror, who spent half a lifetime in coaching, was not so hopeful of Chappell’s success because he felt his team-coaching experience was restricted to South Australia.

In the end, it was a mixed bag for Chappell. 

Gary Kirsten, the South African came in as full-time coach after Ravi Shastri and Chandu Borde were put in charge of affairs. There were no great expectations from Kirsten, but he ended up guiding India to the 2011 World Cup win. His successor Duncan Fletcher was viewed as someone who could help India challenge England and Australian on their soil in Test cricket after having helped England to the 2005 Ashes win. But that was not to be, because India suffered 0-4 losses in both these nations in 2011 and 2011-12. Fletcher, however was coach of the team which won the 2013 Champions Trophy.

Shastri who virtually took over as boss during the 2014 tour of England, did justice to the expectations to a large extent in multiple stints. Anil Kumble was expected to be an organised, tight coach and those expectations were met. Unfortunately, problems between then captain Virat Kohli seemed irreparable.

Dravid’s appointment as head coach in November 2021 too was received with optimism. And though the debit side of the book has India’s failure to win the last World Test Championship final as well the ODI World Cup final under the former captain’s watch, Dravid has left a fine legacy. His experience of coaching the India U-19 team before taking up the senior role would have been more than just handy. 

If there is a downside to Gambhir’s appointment, it is that he was selected on the basis of his Indian Premier League (IPL) experience as mentor for two franchises. Of course, he has been a two-time IPL-winning captain for Kolkata Knight Riders. Having displayed his pragmatic side often, India’s new head coach will now just want to get on with the job in Sri Lanka and pay less attention to what people say while previewing his role.

mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello

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