I don't see that far ahead, difficult to answer: Gautam Gambhir on being next India coach
Kolkata, Jun 21: Evading queries on whether he is set to be the next head coach of the Indian cricket team, former opener Gautam Gambhir on Friday said he doesn't "see that far ahead" but provided insights into his coaching philosophy which is based on the "team first ideology".
Gambhir was speaking at an Indian Chamber of Commerce event here.
He appeared in a virtual interview with the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee earlier this week and is widely perceived to be India's next head coach after incumbent Rahul Dravid's tenure comes to an end following the ongoing T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
However, Gambhir, who recently played a crucial role in KKR's third title win in the IPL as team mentor, remained tigh-tlipped when he was asked about his prospects.
"I don't see that far ahead. You are grilling me, asking me all tough questions," he said.
"It is difficult to answer right now. All I can say is that I'm happy being here, just finished a brilliant journey (and) let's enjoy that. I'm in a very happy space right now," Gambhir said at a 'Rise To Leadership' seminar here.
Gambhir said putting team ahead of individuals is the bedrock of his coaching philosophy.
"If you have the intent of keeping your team ahead of any individual, things will fall in place. If not today, tomorrow, if not tomorrow, someday it will fall in place," he said.
"But if you start thinking on that, or if you know that you need to help one or two individuals perform, then your team will only suffer."
"My job is not to make individuals perform. My job, as a mentor, is to make KKR win," said Gambhir who was praised all over for his role in KKR's winning run this year.
"For me, the guru mantra is team first philosophy. I think team-first ideology, team-first philosophy is the most important ideology in any team sport," he added.
Gambhir said everyone was a leader in the KKR camp which had a near-perfect campaign this year.
"Yes I was the leader but all of us in the dressing room made the change. it was about making Kolkata proud. It was morale responsibility for me to give something back to Kolkata," he said.
The former cricketer, who also captained India on a few occasions, however said that treating all members in a team equally is his approach.
"In a team sport, it's the team that matters the most. Individuals do play a role, individuals do contribute," he said.
"But I think if 11 people are treated equally, if 11 people have equal respect, if everyone is treated equally, given the same respect, same responsibility, same honour, you will achieve an unbelievable amount of success.
"You cannot have discrimination in a set up or in an organisation," he added.
The 42-year-old, however, did not have any disappointment for not being able to captain India for a long run.
"I have always thought about performing for the fans, and that has been my thought since the last year of my training career. In the middle, I got this honour of captaining India for six games. I tried doing it to the best of my ability," he said.
"Otherwise, I have no regrets whatsoever because my job was not to captain the series. My job was to make my country win, and whichever team I play for, make that team win," he added.
He does have one regret though.
"I wish I had finished that game," he said referring to the 2011 World Cup final in which then skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored the winning runs.
"It was my job to finish the game, rather than leaving someone to finish the game. If I had to turn back the clock, I would go back there and score the last run, irrespective of how many runs I scored," added the left-hander, who scored 97 runs in that epic clash against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium.
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Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashes in Kazakhstan leaving 32 survivors
Moscow, Dec 25: An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people onboard crashed Wednesday in the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, leaving at least 32 survivors, according to officials. More than 30 people are likely dead.
Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry said in a Telegram statement that those on board included five crew. At least 29 have been hospitalized, the ministry told Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russian news agency Interfax quoted medical workers as saying that four bodies have been recovered and emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots, according to a preliminary assessment, died in the crash.
The Embraer 190 aircraft made an emergency landing 3 km from the city, Azerbaijan Airlines said earlier.
Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry initially said 25 people survived the crash, later revising that number to 27, 28, and then 29 as the search and rescue operation continued at the site of the crash, bringing the supposed death toll down.
Prosecutor General's Office in Azerbaijan later reported that at least 32 people survived the crash, adding that the number wasn't final.
The number of survivors could mean that over 30 people may be dead.
The plane was originally scheduled to travel from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus. According to Azerbaijan Airlines, 37 passengers were Azerbaijani citizens. There were also 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhstani and three Kyrgyzstani citizens, it said.
RIA Novosti quoted Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, as saying that preliminary information showed that the pilot had chosen to divert to Aktau after a bird strike on the aircraft led to “an emergency situation on board”.
Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane's colors and its registration number.
Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage of the plane.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft making what appeared to be a figure-right once nearing the airport in Aktau, its altitude moving up and down substantially over the last minutes of the flight before impacting the ground.
FlightRadar24 separately said in an online post that the aircraft had faced “strong GPS jamming” which “made the aircraft transmit bad ADS-B data”, referring to the information that allows flight-tracking websites to follow planes in flight. Russia has been blamed in the past for jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.
Embraer did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Wednesday morning. In a statement, Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep members of the public updated and changed its social media banners to solid black.
Azerbaijan's state news agency, Azertac, said that an official delegation consisting of Azerbaijan's emergency situations minister, the country's deputy general prosecutor, and the vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines had been dispatched to Aktau to conduct an “on-site investigation”.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who had been traveling to St Petersburg, returned to Azerbaijan on hearing news of the crash, the president's press service said. Aliyev was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media. “It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured,” he wrote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Aliyev on the phone and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Both Kazakhstani and Azerbaijani authorities were investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed in Aktau, Kazakhstan. pic.twitter.com/EnicqHcTGM
— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 25, 2024
