Follow UsFormer South African great AB de Villiers has described Gautam Gambhir as “an emotional player,” and suggested that emotional traits that help as a player may not always be helpful when one becomes a coach. Speaking on R Ashwin’s YouTube channel, de Villiers said, “I’ve known him as an emotional player, and if that is the case in the change room, generally an emotional coach is not a good thing to have.”
“It’s not to say he’s that kind of a coach and the kind of leader behind the scenes. There’s no right and wrong,” he added, as quoted by The Indian Express, clarifying that it’s not an indictment.
De Villiers also felt that different players respond differently, and admitted that he does not know exactly how Gambhir operates in the Indian dressing room, so whatever he says is based on what he has observed publicly.
“Some players will feel comfortable with a former player. Some players will be comfortable with a coach that’s never played the game before, but he’s got a lot of years of experience of coaching the game,” the former Proteas legend said.
“It’s a tough question because I’ve never played under Shukri and I’ve never been in the Indian dressing room with GG, Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate. It looks great on paper but I don’t know what the dynamic is like behind the scenes. What I can say is it is different for every player,” he added.
Reflecting on his own experience, de Villiers pointed to a positive example where he was coached by and played under Gary Kirsten, who was also India’s ODI World Cup-winning coach.
“I absolutely love playing under Gary Kirsten; he’s a former player and similar to Gautam Gambhir. Some players might find confidence and feel comfortable with a former player being there, a great of the game and find some extra inspiration to put extra yards for the team and for the coach,” he added.
De Villiers’s remarks come in the wake of India’s 2–0 Test series loss to South Africa in Guwahati, marking the second such whitewash under Gambhir’s tenure as head coach.