Gautam Gambhir: Man with the 'Midas Touch' does it again
Ahmedabad (PTI): There is a very thin line between bullishness and conviction and Gautam Gambhir often operates somewhere in between.
He has a way of getting things done and Sunday was another great example of doing enough to
History will judge whether he was a great tactician but with two ICC white-ball trophies in consecutive years, there is not an iota of doubt that Gambhir is India's most successful men's cricket team head coach.
And not just that, perhaps he is also Indian cricket's most talked about coach, who can polarise opinions.
No coach has divided opinions since Greg Chappell did at the start of the millennium.
Yet, Chappell became the pantomime villain back in the day, who was unceremoniously dumped.
However in case of Gambhir, despite underwhelming show in Test cricket, tough calls taken with regards to super seniors, he always had the backing of men who mattered in the BCCI boardroom.
He has endured the wrath of social media, at times even unreal hate and endless conjecture, but his grit has always mirrored the resolve he showed while batting for two days to save a Test for India in Napier.
Gambhir's bullishness is an extension of his persona -- a very Delhi trait that he imbibed once he realised that “good boys” rarely survive the test of time in capital cricket.
Despite hailing from a super-rich family, little came easy for Gambhir. In the crocodile-infested waters of DDCA politics, performance was the only currency that kept him relevant.
He has always been fiercely opinionated. His decisions as a player, captain and now coach may have been right or wrong, but the conviction behind them was unmistakable.
It came from a place of honesty and self-belief, reinforced by a strong sense of right and wrong.
If he believed that Ajay Jadeja had no place in the Delhi Ranji Trophy nets due to his alleged involvement in match-fixing, he was hellbent on not entering the nets till the former India all-rounder resigned.
As a Delhi captain, he fought with curators, administrators, selectors for players he believed in. He never cared who was in-front of him -- whether it was Bishan Bedi or Chetan Chauhan as long as he knew that what he said and felt made sense.
If he believed that a young Suryakumar Yadav was his trump card when he was KKR skipper, he backed him to the hilt.
And when he became the India head coach, he believed that Surya was the right man to take Rohit Sharma's legacy forward and not Hardik Pandya, who seemed to be injury prone.
If he felt that Ishan Kishan was needed for the T20 World Cup, he would ask for it. If he felt that Harshit Rana has raw talent and Washington Sundar is an all-rounder that India will need in the next 10 years, he would listen to no one.
His captaincy was very instinctive and his coaching tenure whether for Lucknow Super Giants or KKR and now for India have been based on gut feel more than pure data.
There are coaches who set up players for failure but no one can accuse Gambhir of possessing that vile trait. He would rather take a few bullets for under-performing players, back them till they are back to their best.
A case in point was Abhishek Sharma in the T20 World Cup. Varun Chakravarthy had a poor tournament by his standards but enjoyed Gambhir's unflinching support.
When Rinku Singh's father passed away, Gambhir never asked for a replacement as he wanted his player to be back with his team.
His facial contours would rarely give away as to what he is thinking or how he is feeling. A man of few words when he played for India but a coach who would always goad his boys to play for the flag.
T20 is a format which Gambhir always understood like the back of his palm and even in the coming days, this is the format where one would see him excel as a coach.
Whether he can carry this 'Midas Touch' into 50 over and Tests is a million dollar question. If that happens, Indian cricket will reach heights, it has never seen before.
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Surjewala slams Pratap Simha’s ‘vile’ remarks on CM Siddaramaiah, demands apology from BJP
Bengaluru (PTI): Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over alleged disparaging remarks made by former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during an assembly bypoll campaign in Bagalkote.
Simha made the remarks while campaigning for BJP candidate Veerabhadrayya Charantimath, triggering a political row ahead of the by-elections scheduled for April 9.
Congress has fielded Umesh Meti, son of former MLA late M Y Meti, whose death necessitated the bye-election.
"Pratap Simha's vile remarks about Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bagalkot have exposed the BJP's despicable politics once again," Surjewala said in a social media post.
Alleging a larger political design, he added, "It is increasingly evident that Pratap Simha’s outburst is driven by desperation," and accused the BJP of using such remarks to target backward classes, Scheduled Castes, and minorities.
The Rajya Sabha member further claimed that the incident reflects a pattern within the party. "This is not one man's madness—it is the BJP’s political culture," he said, adding that the remarks were aimed at "denigrating leaders from marginalised communities".
Referring to past incidents, Surjewala said, "CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar have received death threats in the past, including one from BJP leaders who warned that their bodies would be stuffed into a refrigerator."
The Congress leader also criticised the BJP’s bypoll campaign strategy, alleging "internal contradictions".
He pointed to the party’s use of expelled MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal in campaigning despite earlier disciplinary action against him, accusing the BJP of resorting to "abuses and indignities" against opposition leaders.
Surjewala demanded immediate action from the BJP leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, state president B Y Vijayendra, and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka.
He said they must tender a public apology to Kannadigas, particularly to OBCs, SCs, and minorities, over the remarks, and urged the party to expel Simha if it does not repudiate his statements.
Surjewala also called for legal action, demanding that an FIR be registered against Simha and that strict measures be taken.
Warning of "political consequences", he said the electorate in the bypoll-bound constituencies would respond decisively if the BJP failed to apologise, asserting that voters would "teach the BJP a befitting lesson" in the elections.
There has been no immediate reaction from the saffron party yet.
