Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum. Both terrific opening batters in their prime, both all-format head coaches currently in international cricket. Two pods in a pea, right?
It will make for some fascinating viewing if Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum were to exchange roles (AFP)
Wrong. Gambhir was feisty and combative as a batter, determined to prove a point more often than not. McCullum was free-spirited, his enjoyment of the art of batting manifesting itself in all-round aggression. Actually, the two could be peas in a pod – they have extended the same respective batting philosophies to their coaching careers, too.
Gambhir has been in charge of the Indian team for a year and a half now. McCullum, from New Zealand, was appointed the head coach of the England Test team in May 2022 and assumed command of the white-ball sides in September 2024. India have had a troubled time in Test cricket at home in the fledgling Gambhir era while stacking up limited-overs silverware, while England’s ‘Bazball’ has produced nothing worthwhile, their latest debacle in the Ashes in Australia training the spotlight firmly on methodologies, preparation and player behaviour.
Now, imagine for a moment, as it happens in the world of make-believe, if, through some extraordinary quirk of fate, they swap roles. That McCullum somehow becomes the Indian coach, and Gambhir reprises that role with England. Oh, what fun.
Over the last quarter of a century, since India first experimented with overseas coaches, personalities with vastly different character traits have occupied the hot seat. John Wright, the pioneer in November 2000, was soft-spoken and affable until he wasn’t. He brought professionalism and structured training into the mix, jettisoning the practice of treating ‘net’ sessions like a party with attendants trooping in with tea and ‘snacks’. Greg Chappell was authoritarian, though his heart was in the right place; his intentions were beyond question, but the tack he adopted was deemed abrasive by the multitude of seniors in the setup. Gary Kirsten preferred the background, giving players freedom they had never enjoyed previously but always holding them accountable for their actions. Duncan Fletcher was practically invisible, Ravi Shastri boisterous but studiedly playing second fiddle to Virat Kohli, and Rahul Dravid was a fabulous man-manager who formed a winning combination with the likeable Rohit Sharma.
Will Indian players feel more secure under McCullum?
You’d think India would therefore be used to different styles, but even experienced players have struggled to understand the Gambhir philosophy that they have often professed to be confused by. How will they react to McCullum’s personality, full of positivity and aggression, with a distinct onus on backing all individuals that he believes can propagate the agreed-upon style of play? Under Gambhir, India have gotten used to a chop-and-change approach that has, understandably, proved counter-productive. Won’t they feel more secure under the McCullum hand? The chances of them going in the other direction and misusing the unmistakable show of faith are practically minimal, given that they well understand the stakes involved and what ill-advised excesses can do to their careers. And their bank balance. Maybe it will become a match made in heaven, what?
England have shown themselves to be ill-disciplined off the field. Claims of bouts of excessive drinking during their ‘holiday’ in Noosa, the affluent resort town on the Queensland coast, midway through the Ashes, have gathered strident voice in the last few weeks, while on Thursday, Test vice-captain and white-ball skipper Harry Brook apologised for an altercation with a bouncer at a Wellington nightclub last October. Clearly, they need more than just a free hand; they need an iron fist, not a token slap on the wrist. Maybe Gambhir is the iron first English cricket requires, because if there is one thing the Delhiite constantly invokes, it is national pride, and being struck by a bouncer hardly enhances national pride.
Gambhir is an uncompromising task master, which is not to say that McCullum isn’t, though he is potentially not in the same league as the Indian, who won’t suffer indulgences and foolishness lightly. Of course, he himself is prone to bursts of anger, such as during his expletive-ridden rant at the Oval curator Lee Fortis in July, or his numerous run-ins with Kohli at the IPL. But he rightly demands high standards of behaviour from his charges, and given how loose they have been let to run, that’s exactly what England possibly requires right now.
If England’s molly-coddled cricketers, whose performances haven’t matched their mouths, need tough love, India’s probably are in need of just love. Gambhir can supply the former in ample measure; McCullum comes armed with oodles of the latter. Not without reason is it said that cricket isn’t just played on the field; it’s primarily played between the ears. Really, what if, somehow, anyhow, McCullum becomes the Indian coach and Gambhir takes on the England role? What a ‘what if’ that would be.