Gautam Gambhir: India head coach Gautam Gambhir revealed that the most challenging aspect of his job as the head coach is dealing with conversations with deserving players who don’t make the cut for the playing XI. The 44-year-old has faced severe backlash lately as fans and pundits criticise his decisions to drop an in-form player from the XI to accommodate others.
In a video interview shared by the BCCI on Monday, Gambhir was asked how he manages conversations with consistent wicket-takers like Arshdeep and Kuldeep when they don’t make the XI. The former cricketer said, “That is the toughest part for me as a coach, and that is the toughest job I have. Sometimes, when I know that there is so much quality sitting on the bench, and I know everyone deserves to be part of the playing XI, but ultimately, you can only pick 11, thinking about what is the best combination to do the job on that particular day.
“But for me, the most important thing is the conversation and the communication as well. The communication needs to be very clear, very honest. Sometimes, obviously, those are conversations to have. If you tell someone that he is not playing, this is probably the toughest conversation for a coach and player as well, because I know that the player would get upset when he deserves to be part of the playing XI.”
In a video interview shared by the BCCI on Monday, Gambhir was asked how he manages conversations with consistent wicket-takers like Arshdeep and Kuldeep when they don’t make the XI. The former cricketer said, “That is the toughest part for me as a coach, and that is the toughest job I have. Sometimes, when I know that there is so much quality sitting on the bench, and I know everyone deserves to be part of the playing XI, but ultimately, you can only pick 11, thinking about what is the best combination to do the job on that particular day.
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“But if you are honest, if you are straightforward, if you know that what you are saying is from your heart and there is nothing beyond that, some players do understand that. And it's a communication between a player and the coach, and I think it should stay there, rather than people making a lot of outcry and different theories about it. And that something which this group and the support staff have done brilliantly because it has been a very transparent dressing room, and an honest dressing room, and that is something how we want this dressing room to be like,” he added.