Gambhir's vision meets Baz's blueprint
New Delhi: The sun has set on an era of giants as Virat Kohli's fire, Rohit Sharma's flair and R Ashwin's craft are now confined to memory. With his steely fury and tunnel vision, coach Gautam Gambhir will hope to inspire a whole new generation to take their place in the Test team.
With Shubman Gill, the new captain, by his side, untested waters lie ahead but Gambhir is confident that this new team has potential to do special things.
'There are two ways of looking at this tour. One is we are without our three most experienced players or we got this phenomenal opportunity to do something special for the country,' said Gambhir on bcci.tv.
'When I look around in this group, I see the hunger, the passion and the commitment to do something special. If we make sacrifices, if we come out of our comfort zone, if we start fighting not every day but every session, every hour and every ball, I think we can have a memorable tour.'
Gambhir's huddle talks are expected to be laced with bravado and motivation and can be intimidating, but the obsession for results is evident. This hype worked with Kolkata Knight Riders when he was captain back in 2012 and 2014 and it worked when he mentored them in their title-winning season in 2024.
Recently, KKR pacer Harshit Rana admitted to missing Gambhir's 'aura' and 'thrill' in the dressing room in 2025.
He balanced that aura in the huddle talk as he warmly welcomes newcomers Sai Sudharshan and Arshdeep Singh and the new leadership group of Gill and Rishabh Pant but also lauded veteran Karun Nair for his 'never say die attitude'. That is the kind of attitude Gambhir lives by himself and that's what impresses him too.
Gambhir has called for a 'closed-door' intrasquad game before the series begins in Leeds on June 20 to test out the new batting order and give game-time to key bowlers.
Across the pitch, Brendon McCullum's England await the in-transition Indian team. With Ben Stokes by his side, Bazball had transformed England into an audacious unit but the squad looks different from the last time they faced India in 2024. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have retired. Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Ollie Pope are out of favour. There are also some comebacks amidst injury concerns to their key pacers.
However, England are fresh off a win against Zimbabwe in Tests and cleanswept West Indies in ODIs and T20Is. McCullum, who oversees England's coaching in all three formats since Matthew Mott's resignation from the white-ball job, has a clear vision.
'It's important, the guys refresh. We know where we want to get to as a Test team,' McCullum told Sky Sports Cricket. 'There are some quality bowlers that are unavailable, but we have a nice, varied bowling attack with Chris Woakes, Sam Cook, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue for the high-pace element. We have Shoaib Bashir, who is growing in Test cricket every day.'
'We know we are going to be tested against India, and they will arrive prepared.'
McCullum's 'blueprint' with new captain Harry Brook in white-ball cricket has been successful and the key to that has been to just let him be.
'Any time you go through a period of transition and change, you have aspirations and hopes on what you can achieve. Sometimes, they happen quick and sometimes they take a long time to embed,' McCullum had said following their win against West Indies.
'But in the last couple of weeks, we have seen a clear blueprint of how Harry Brook wants this cricket team to run and his style of captaincy. I have let him find his way.'
While it remains to be seen how much of Gill's style will spill into 'leading' the side, it's going to be interesting to see Gambhir's direction through it. The series promises fierce competition but also a fresh chapter for two sides trying to define its next decade.
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