India head coach Gautam Gambhir and star batter Virat Kohli sat down for a conversation ahead of the start of India's 2024-25 home season and the first Test against Bangladesh.
Gambhir took over as India men's head coach after the departure of Rahul Dravid post the 2024 T20 World Cup victory. Since then, he has been in charge of one series, the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. The Bangladesh series marks his first Test series and his first series at home as the head coach of the senior men's team.
Kohli and Gambhir have had a well-known history. Both hailing from Delhi, they've had numerous on-field spats in the past, particularly in the IPL, even after Gambhir's retirement as a player.
You can read in detail about the Kohli-Gambhir history here.
However, during an IPL 2024 game between RCB and KKR (Gambhir was their mentor then), both shared a cordial hug on field seemingly putting all the past grudges and incidents to bed. Kohli was also a part of the ODI squad that toured Sri Lanka and has expressed his support for the new head coach.
Now, as the two set out to begin the home Test season on a high, they sat down for a much-awaited interview with BCCI.tv, talking about various aspects of their game and the relationship they share.
Gambhir hails Kohli's legacy
Gambhir and Kohli talked about how far they have come, having started out in Delhi, with the India coach hailing Kohli's contribution to Indian cricket: "You've come a long way, you've done special things. For me, how you've taken Indian cricket forward is the legacy that you've left."
Never thought of coaching
Kohli asked Gambhir if he ever thought that he'd be in a coaching role during his career, to which Gambhir answered that he hadn't even thought about this two months back.
"I never thought about coaching India even a couple of months back. It's an absolute honour, representing your country once again, coming back to the dressing room where you've spent a lot of time."
Test cricket is the pinnacle
Gambhir talked about how doing well and making a name in Test cricket had always been his motivation, and that is where players can leave their legacy.
"All we had was looking forward to first-class cricket and making it to the Test side. We always thought that we will always be judged by what we do in red-ball cricket. The legacy that you can leave behind, that can only happen when you start doing well in Test cricket. You have played a massive role when you spoke about how important Test cricket is for you."
The challenge of transition excited me when I took over the Test team
Kohli recalled how the Indian Test side was transitioning when he took over as captain in 2014.
"The thing that excited me about Test cricket when I was coming up and I had the chance to lead the Test side was the challenge. We were transitioning then, when you guys had made way for the younger team and Mahi bhai left Test captaincy. So for me, it was like, 'I am 25 and I have this team of 24-25-year-olds. How do we become that team that has household names?'
"I sat down and I thought, 'I really need to plan this out. It just can't happen by chance.' When I started thinking from the point of view of where Indian cricket has to be in seven years time, the solutions came."
Kohli's plan to take the Test team forward
Kohli mentioned that his vision for the Test team when he took over the captaincy included the following: "We need a group of fast bowlers. We need batters who can bat long. We need to give more ownership to five batters and a keeper to get us 350-400 runs. We can't have a seventh option to give cushion to the batters."
Gambhir to Kohli: 'Credit has to go to you'
"What you did brilliantly was that you built a really, really strong bowling unit. Test matches are won by taking 20 wickets. Till the time you don't have a strong bowling line up, you won't win. That is what made you the most successful Test captain of the country. Credit has to go to you. Because as a batter, it is very easy to have strong six-seven batters putting runs on the board, but the way you identified [a group of fast bowlers[ and more importantly, the attitude that you got on the field with the fast bowlers..."
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