Gautam Gambhir's Coaching Philosophy: Team First, Individuals Second

Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian opener, has remained tight-lipped about his potential appointment as the next head coach of the Indian cricket team. However, he has provided insights into his coaching philosophy, which emphasizes the "team first ideology."

Gambhir, who recently played a crucial role in Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) third IPL title win as team mentor, appeared in a virtual interview with the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee earlier this week. He is widely perceived to be India's next head coach after incumbent Rahul Dravid's tenure ends following the ongoing T20 World Cup.

When asked about his prospects, Gambhir said, "I don't see that far ahead. You are grilling me, asking me all tough questions." He added, "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 believes that putting the 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 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 that 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 a moral responsibility for me to give something back to Kolkata," he said.

The former cricketer, who also captained India on a few occasions, 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 honor, you will achieve an unbelievable amount of success."

"You cannot have discrimination in a set up or in an organization," he added.

Gambhir expressed no 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 honor 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.

Tags: #GautamGambhir, #IndianCricketTeam, #HeadCoach, #TeamFirstIdeology, #KKR