Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has welcomed the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as the new head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. The former opening batter was appointed as India’s head coach for a period of three and a half years on July 9, after Rahul Dravid’s contract came to an end in June. The 42-year-old Gambhir is set to start his stint as head coach later this month, when India will travel to Sri Lanka for a white-ball series.
Ahead of the start of the India-Sri Lanka T20I series in Pallekele on July 27, former Indian stumper Karthik has reserved big praise for his former Indian teammate and said he is a very good leader who is tactically very astute.
According to him, the top scorer for India in the final of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup is a players’ man, and it would help the players of the team.
“He’s a very good leader. I think he will bring two things to the Indian team. One is the fact that he’s a complete players’ man. He protects his players, and that’s very important in international cricket because, at times, you can feel lonely or deserted in international cricket when performances don’t go your way. So, Gambhir is going to do that,” he said on Cricbuzz.
“And number two, he’ll definitely bring a clever tactical angle to this Indian team. Very fierce, intense guy, and I always liked playing for the team and did whatever it took to win a game of cricket,” added Karthik.
Gambhir was Kolkata Knight Riders mentor in the IPL 2024, and under his guidance, KKR managed to end the decade-long wait for a third IPL title by getting the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final played in Chennai on May 26.
Before joining the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise last year, Gambhir served as a mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants in the cash-rich league for two years and helped them qualify for the playoffs on both occasions.
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