Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn hailed Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the head coach of Team India by admitting the fact that Gambhir brings in aggression and fierceness, the much-needed ingredients in today’s cricket. Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Jay Shah made an announcement on Tuesday that Gautam Gambhir was going to take over as the new head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team.
Speaking on Star Sports, Steyn praised Gambhir for his combative nature on the field, which, he feels, has come down a bit in this age of franchise T20 leagues when people start to get along with each other and often become friends. “I am a big fan of Gautam Gambhir. I love his aggression. He is one of the few Indians I ever played against who came back at you, and I like that,” said Steyn in an appearance on Star Sports. He feels Gambhir’s aggressive approach to the game would have benefited the dressing room in the midst of senior players like Virat Kohli.
He also praised Gambhir for being “streetwise and smart” as a cricketer. He admired the fact that Gambhir was quite fierce on the field but a perfect gentleman off it. “He is also streetwise, a very smart cricketer, and has got a great cricket brain. So I think from that point of view he is going to be fantastic for them too,” added Steyn.
He was the left-handed opening batsman of India, whose great heroics led the team to victory in ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 by playing match-winning innings in the finals. He was the team mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders in Indian Premier League 2024, guiding them to their third IPL title. All in all, Gambhir has accumulated 10,324 runs in 242 matches played for India, with 20 centuries and 63 half-centuries.
Gambhir comes at a juncture when Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended with India’s victory over South Africa in the final of T20 WC 2024; earlier, Virat Kohli and Axar Patel had stitched a partnership that propelled India to a strong total and, eventually, secured a 7-run win that gave the team their second T20 World Cup title after a gap of 17 long years.