New Delhi: India’s World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev opened up on ongoing criticism of Gautam Gambhir’s approach as India’s head coach and said that in modern cricket, a head coach’s role is more about managing players than coaching skills
Gambhir has faced intense backlash after India’s 0–2 Test series loss to South Africa, with concerns raised over regular team changes and the use of part-time bowlers. Kapil, however, pointed out that the concept of a ‘coach’ is often misread in today’s game.
“Today that word called a coach ‘coach’ is a very common word today. Gautam Gambhir can’t be a coach. He can be a manager of the team,” Kapil said while speaking at the Indian Chamber of Commerce ICC Centenary Session.
“When you say coach, coach is where I learn in the school and college. Those were the people, my coach there. They can manage me,” he added.
Kapil Dev said there’s no room for tradition coaching
Kapil said that at the highest level, players are already specialists, leaving little scope for traditional coaching.
“How can you be a coach when they have given a name to let’s say anybody a leg spinner? How can Gautam can be a coach to a leg spinner or to the wicket-keeper?” he said.
“I think you have to manage. That’s more important. As a manager you give them encouragement to say you can do it because when you become a manager the young boys look up to you.”
Kapil also believes a coach must provide comfort and confidence to players
Kapil said that a captain or coach acting as a manager must focus on giving players comfort and confidence, especially those going through a dip in form, “How can my manager or captain can give me that comfort and that’s what the manager and captain’s job is – to give comfort to the team and always say ‘you can do better’. That’s the way I look at it,” he said.
Speaking about his leadership style, Kapil said he believed in supporting players during tough phases rather than focusing on those already delivering strong performances.
“I think you have to give comfort to the people who are not playing well. If somebody made a hundred I don’t want to have a drink and dinner with him. There are a lot of people there As a captain I would like to have a drink with people or I like to have a dinner with people who are not performing. You need to give them the confidence and that’s what happens. So I think it’s very important as a captain and your role is not only your performance, it is also about putting the team together.” he concluded
