England’s new white-ball coach says Team India counterpart is a ‘strong leader of men’
KOLKATA: The upcoming white-ball series between India and England brings the coaches on either side under the scanner. Both Gautam Gambhir and England counterpart Brendon McCullum, interestingly, are former coaches and players of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL franchise.
After the Test series defeat Down Under, Gambhir’s position as head coach is likely to be revaluated on the basis of India’s Champions Trophy performance next month, so there is pressure on him. On the other hand, McCullum has made a new start, officially taking over as head coach across formats after having been in-charge of the Test team.
McCullum’s appointment comes after Matthew Mott was fired as white-ball coach on the back of two disappointing World Cup campaigns. England failed to advance to the semifinals of the ODI World Cup 2023 and just about made the top four in the T20 World Cup last year. The former New Zealand great’s immediate task will be to inject some energy into the white-ball set-up.
Gambhir got the India job more because of his success as a mentor in white-ball cricket, guiding the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title. He was able to carry on the momentum during the T20I series against Sri Lanka, where India won all the three matches following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the shortest format. However, the former India opener is yet to secure a win in the 50-over format and the upcoming Champions Trophy is going to be important for his coaching future.
McCullum will be carrying high expectations after he revolutionized the team’s Test cricket with the ‘Bazball’ approach after becoming Test coach in July 2022. But he has never coached a white-ball international team, although he had brief stints as T20 coach for two franchise teams, with KKR being one of those.
McCullum, for one, expressed respect for his India counterpart on Monday.
“What I will say about Gautam Gambhir is that I’ve worked with him before. He’s an outstanding leader. He’s a really strong leader of men, and in the time that he’s had in any sort of leadership positions he’s held previously, he’s been able to excel,” McCullum told reporters here. “He’s only just sort of got underway with this team, but I have no doubt that he’ll get the best out of the talent that he’s got. And then we’ve (England) got to find a way to be able to counter that with our own style.”
Asked about coaching styles and philosophies, McCullum said, “Everyone’s approaches are very unique. From how I try and operate, it’s probably less of a coach and more about trying to make sure that the environment is a happy and enjoyable one, where you guys feel as if they can push their talents and push themselves towards uncomfortable situations, knowing that there’s still going to be that support and care there afterwards and be encouraged to go again go towards those.
“Other coaches are very different. They like to run things in a quite structured, quite technical way. Other coaches are probably a bit more regimented in how they go about things, so I guess it’s all fairly different,” McCullum said.
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