India head coach Gautam Gambhir has acknowledged that the demands of coaching the national team have left him mentally drained at times, while insisting that he remains capable of handling the pressure. Following India’s 3-2 T20I series win over New Zealand, Gambhir also backed the team’s inexperienced bowling attack ahead of the ODI series and spoke about the improvements he expects from Abhishek Sharma.
India begin the three-match ODI series on November 4 without Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. The pace attack is expected to feature Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar. Siraj is the most experienced among them with 51 ODIs, while Nabi has played one, Kamboj one, Brar nine and Arshdeep 18.
Gambhir described it as potentially India’s most inexperienced bowling attack in ODI cricket and said the bowlers should receive significant credit if the team performs well overseas.
“When you come overseas, your bowlers win the series, especially in one-day and Test cricket. So if we go ahead and do well in one-day cricket, a lot of credit should be given to these bowlers rather than talking too much about the batters,” he said.
Gambhir also spoke candidly about the demands of his role, admitting that managing different formats, conditions and player personalities over the past four to five months had taken a mental toll.
“Yes, I have, to be honest. But I am strong enough to manage that. I’m strong enough to take it for as long as I can. That is how I am built: I can take the pressure, I can take the bullet,” he said.
He added that while he sometimes feels drained, he has so far been able to manage the pressure of the job.
The India coach also explained his approach to communicating selection decisions to players who miss out. He said making the right decision mattered more than making a popular one and stressed the importance of creating a secure dressing-room environment.
“My job is to make the right decision, not the popular decision,” Gambhir said, adding that honesty, transparency and clarity were essential when having difficult conversations with players.
On Abhishek, Gambhir identified his performance against off-spin as an area for improvement. The left-hander had worked with the coach in the nets and showed progress against New Zealand’s Michael Bracewell during the T20I series.
“Obviously, Abhishek has struggled a bit with off-spin. The more he gets better at it, obviously, he will become an overall better player,” Gambhir said.
He explained that the discussions focused on tactical and technical adjustments, as opposition teams continually study batters and look to exploit their weaknesses. For Gambhir, improving against different bowling styles will be important for Abhishek’s development as an all-format batter.
