Gambhir-Gill chemistry set to drive Indian cricket in coming years

Gautam Gambhir has been a polarising figure in Indian cricket ever since he took charge of the national team little over a year ago. If the past week had been a stormy one ever since the move to replace Rohit Sharma by Shubman Gill as the ODI captain came to fore, the India head coach was in his elements on Saturday to show whose side he stood for.

It’s not been exactly a secret that GG, along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, had been given a mandate to usher in the so called ‘transition’ in the team. The method has been questioned, often rightly, by TV pundits to the fan on the street and Gambhir bid his time to come out with a strong riposte on a day his boy Gill cracked his 10^th Test century against a modest Caribbean attack at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

 Up 1-0, it’s a matter of time before India complete a sweep against the visitors but the big challenge ahead heralds a change of format when the Men in Blue leave for Australia next week. This time around, the squad boasts of the two white ball giants Rohit and Virat Kohli with them but playing under a new captain – and Gambhir lost no time to send out a message that he will always have Gill’s back.  

 ‘’It is still very early days because he has only captained in six Tests. But, the way he is handling pressure is standing out,’’ Gambhir said during a chat with the broadcasters. ‘’He will keep growing. He is still a work in progress. He still has not seen the worst days in his captaincy tenure. It will happen someday. One day, there will be lows. Now, he is a one-day captain as well. I want to actually see how he reacts when things don't go his way - whether it's personally or from the team's point of view,’’ Gambhir said.

‘’I have always told him one thing: I will always be there to back him and protect him. My job is to take the pressure off him, I am ready to take all the criticism for him till the time he is doing all the right things for the team, till the time he is absolutely transparent and honest with the players in the dressing room. That’s the only way to earn respect. So far, he has been brilliant, transparent, he has been upfront.

 ‘’He has said the right things, done the right things. He has worked extremely hard. He has ticked all the boxes. What more can a coach ask from a captain who has ticket all the right boxes,’’ he said.

Gill, who was unbeaten on 129 when India declared their innings on Saturday, has scored 966 runs in Tests this calendar year to lead India’s scoring charts. After securing an extremely creditable 2-2 draw in England, India are now eyeing their first series sweep under Gill’s captaincy.

The chemistry between Gambhir and Gill has it’s genesis in the way the former took a big gamble in pitching him for Test captaincy for the England series – at a time when the Big Two announced their retirement from Tests and Jasprit Bumrah, the default candidate, opted out due to his workload management issues. The odds were certainly stacked against Gill on several fronts – from a modest overseas batting record to lack of experience in captaincy.

 Now that the ploy has worked, the Gambhir-Agarkar combine has decided to push the envelope further by fast-tracking Gill into captaincy in the 50-overs format. A decision, which may create a chasm in the dressing room if one goes by Rohit’s discreet omission of any reference to Gambhir behind the national team’s back-to-back success in white ball tournaments under his captaincy (T20 World Cup & ICC Champions Trophy) at the CEAT awards gala. His speech had raised quite a few eyebrows as Gambhir was more than eight months old in the job when India won the Champions Trophy last March in Dubai.

 Referring to the discussion that he had with Gill at his anointment as Test captain, Gambhir noted: “I remember the entire conversation. Picking a 25-year-old to captain a Test side, I told him one thing very clearly: We have thrown you in a deep sea. From here, there are only two paths — you may drown or you’ll become a world-class swimmer. For me, the 750 runs in England don’t matter as much as the way a 25-year-old, in his first Test series as captain, handled himself, the team, and the pressure.”