Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir recently became the first Indian coach to win two ICC trophies, adding the T20 World Cup 2026 title to his cabinet alongside the Champions Trophy 2025. However, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has warned Gambhir that his “real test” is still more than a year away, which is the 50-over Cricket World Cup 2027 in South Africa.
“His real test in white ball is going to be in South Africa in 2027. Conditions there will test him but I am confident he will get it right with the team he has,” Ganguly said in an interview with Boria Majumdar for Money Control.
Team India lost the Cricket World Cup final in 2023 after going unbeaten all the way up to the final, where Australia beat them. Gambhir, who won the World Cup as a player in 2011, will again face the pressure as head coach, with the 2027 edition also become the final one for Indian stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
“In red ball, he needs to get better. And the way to do it is to think less about the wicket. He needs to get the wicket out of his system. Take the England series. He couldn’t do anything about the wicket and you can see the results. He doesn’t need to play on turners at home. Good wickets will produce good results,” Sourav Ganguly added.
“Gautam is a very good coach” – Sourav Ganguly
However, Sourav Ganguly also opined on his backing for the Indian head coach.
“Gautam is a very good coach. If you remember I said on your platform ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy that you need to give the man some time. As white ball coach he is very good especially in these conditions. He has a very good team and is a very good coach,” Ganguly said again.
Gautam Gambhir will switch his focus now to Test and ODI cricket after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.
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