'I cherish my success and accept failures with both hands': India head coach Gambhir on his tenure so far
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'I cherish my success and accept failures with both hands': India head coach Gambhir on his tenure so far")
India head coach Gautam Gambhir shares thoughts on his tenure Photograph: (BCCI)
Gautam Gambhir reflected on his coaching tenure - citing ICC title wins alongside series losses - as India prepares to host West Indies before touring New Zealand to avenge their 0-3 home Test defeat.
The Indian cricket team has a busy schedule ahead of them for the rest of the year, which begins with hosting the West Indies for a white-ball tour comprising three ODIs and five T20Is. The series begins with the first ODI scheduled for September 27. India will then travel to New Zealand for a full-fledged tour. India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who took over the role after Rahul Dravid stepped down post-T20 World Cup 2024, will be hoping to avenge India's 0-3 loss in the Test series at home against the Kiwis.
Under Gambhir, India won two ICC titles - the Champions Trophy 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2026 - but also lost Test series against New Zealand and South Africa at home, as well as an ODI series in Sri Lanka and a T20I series in Ireland. Ahead of the home series against the West Indies, Gambhir, in conversation with JioStar, spoke about his coaching tenure so far and acknowledged having ups and downs.
"I think I've had my own share of ups and downs; I think I've had my own failures and successes. But again, I've always believed that when you take up that kind of responsibility, there will always be ups and downs. So, whether it was Test cricket, whether it was one-day cricket, or T20 cricket, yes, I've had success, which obviously I will always cherish, but I've had my share of failures as well—which I, again, accept with both hands," Gambhir said about his coaching stint.
Gambhir shares the path going forward
The head coach also spoke about the learnings so far from his coaching tenure, especially for red-ball cricket, which includes the New Zealand tour and then hosting Australia for the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting in January next year.
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"I think the best part that has happened is obviously we've played reasonably good Test cricket since England. I'm not saying that we're still not a work in progress, because with the amount of transition that has happened in Test cricket—especially with the likes of Rohit, Virat, and Ashwin leaving, obviously it is very difficult to replace those kinds of players. Because of the amount of talent, experience, and what those guys have done for Indian cricket in red-ball cricket, it's not going to be easy for anyone to replace them, so it will take time," Gambhir noted.
"I believe that since England, with Shubman taking over, we are heading in the right direction, but we are still a work in progress. I'm sure if we keep backing the right players, we'll reach there and probably Indian cricket will start dominating red-ball cricket for a long, long period of time.
"If you see in red-ball cricket, look at the number of young guys that are in that red-ball squad, look at their age, and look at the amount of Test matches they've played. So, when you're bringing new guys in, you are obviously trying to make them feel how important Test cricket is, because I am a very big believer that a strong Test-cricketing nation is a strong cricketing nation. It's not the other way around. I've never believed that a strong T20-cricketing nation is a strong cricketing nation. So red-ball still remains our priority."
Where to watch India vs West Indies ODI series live?
India vs West Indies can be watched live from September 27 to October 3 at 2 PM on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.
