New Delhi: It is in the Twenty20 format that a cricket coach comes closest to their touchline-prowling counterpart in football. Cricket’s stop-start nature, though, allows for instructions to be passed on without constant shouting and gesturing. When things get nervy, TV cameras pan on the cricket coach as much as they do in football.
Come Thursday, when defending champions India go up against England, two of the most high-profile coaches in this T20 World Cup will match wits at the Wankhede Stadium. While home fans will hope the roles are reversed—recalling another semi-final at the venue 39 years ago when England won that 1987 ODI World Cup clash – Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum will be doubly determined to ace this intense contest.
Both former international openers of distinction, the coaching careers of the 44-year-olds have taken a largely similar path. Both have strong links to Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. McCullum’s sensational 158 for KKR against Royal Challengers Bangalore (now Bengaluru) lit up the inaugural game of the first edition. Gambhir captained the team to its first two titles (2012, 2014), and was a prolific run-getter in both campaigns.
Both gave back to KKR after their playing days. Gambhir returned as team mentor to guide them to a third title in 2024 before succeeding Rahul Dravid as India chief coach. McCullum took the team to the IPL final in 2021, their first since 2014, before leaving the next year to take over as England chief coach.
The former New Zealand skipper’s push to get the team to identify with his philosophy of all-out aggression with the bat marked his tenure with KKR. McCullum wasn’t one for batters building an innings, or worry about losing their wicket. His bid to carry that thrill-a-ball cricket lit up English cricket after he took over and joined forces with Ben Stokes, the games and audacious run chases bringing in the fans in droves.
However, the inability to beat an Indian team in transition last summer and then capitulating 1-4 in the Ashes series in Australia has left pundits and the media calling for the sacking. His comment after the pink-ball Test defeat in Brisbane that his players actually did too much heavy training in the run-up didn’t win admirers and reports of heavy drinking by the players during their mid-Ashes break in Noosa raised more questions. The revelation that Harry Brook was punched by a bouncer in Auckland added to the demand for his ouster.
This T20 World Cup campaign thus could not have come sooner. McCullum has both backed white-ball skipper Brook, one of the game’s top batters, and demanded that criticism of the players should be toned down as it helped no one. Brook repaid the support with a match-winning 50-ball century against Pakistan and then announced his promotion to No.3 was “All Baz”.
His “express yourself” approach in Test cricket seems to have tapered off, especially after the Ashes debacle, but it seems to be helping England find belief in their white-ball game, especially after the 2023 ODI World Cup flop show in India. McCullum showed his seemingly cavalier coaching philosophy contained some winning psychology too when he asked young Rehan Ahmed to “bat like Sehwag”, referring to India’s Sultan of free-swinging batsmanship. With 43 to get from 18 balls against New Zealand, Rehan swung the second ball from Glenn Phillips out of the park, igniting the finish with serial-player of the match Will Jacks.
Gambhir is on the other end of the spectrum but will surely sympathise with McCullum’s Test travails. His first series, at home, was a 0-3 drubbing in Tests against New Zealand. An Australia tour loss followed by the Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Tests, and not pushing for victory in the England series (it ended 2-2) despite a surprisingly robust show by his young team by not playing left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav at all, raised questions if red-ball was his forte. Then followed the 0-2 loss to South Africa, although losing in-form skipper Shubman Gill to a neck injury was a huge setback.
A combative character, Gambhir initially brushed aside doubts if three left-handers at the top would fail the match-up test of T20. However, acknowledging the issue after off-spinners made early in-roads was rewarded with Sanju Samson finally finding form with a match-winning 97 in the virtual quarter-final against West Indies.
Gambhir is in control of the team and has BCCI’s backing. Unlike McCullum, who wants his players to enjoy their cricket, Gambhir insists that his players put the team first and go to battle for the country. Like McCullum though, his contract too runs until 2027, although the England coach appears to be on a sticky wicket after the Ashes low.
No team has successfully defended the T20 World Cup title. But Gambhir will be expected to outsmart a familiar adversary and give India the chance to make amends for their 2023 ODI World Cup final loss at home.
