‘Foreign coaches make money and vanish’: Gautam Gambhir advocates Indian coaches for Men in Blue – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

It’s no surprise that former India opener Gautam Gambhir continues to dominate headlines even if it’s been years since he stepped onto the field in the India outfit.

The 41-year-old recently stated that the Indian team should be coached by Indian players only. The left-handed opener also praised Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid and wished he had been able to play under an Indian coach. Gambhir also hoped that this trend of Indians coaching the Men in Blue continued.

The statements were made by Gautam Gambhir at a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) event in Delhi earlier this week. The southpaw took to social media on Wednesday to share a video of his remarks.

“One really good thing that has happened in Indian cricket in the past six-seven years is that Indians have started coaching the Indian cricket team. I am a very strong believer in this. Indians should coach the Indian cricket team. All these foreign coaches, whom we end up giving a lot of importance to, they only come here, they make money and they vanish. Emotions are involved in sports, and the only people who can be emotional about Indian cricket or Indian sports are the people who have represented their country. So whether it is Rahul Dravid right now, or before him it was Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble, I hope this trend continues. You ask Rahul Dravid, probably he will be more passionate than all those other guys. I wish I had played under any one of these Indian coaches.”

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The video prompted a variety of reactions. While some people agreed with Gambhir’s opinion, others reminded the ex-India opener about foreign coaches like Gary Kirsten and John Wright. “True, without emotion cricket is nothing,” commented one person. “Then How did Gary Kirsten help India to win the icc men odi World Cup 2011 ?? He was also not an Indian coach, he was from South Africa..”, wrote another. “John Wright got us to a WC final, Gary Kirsten got us there and beyond, Duncan Fletcher oversaw us to Champions Trophy glory. If you take away emotion and favouritism of players, you can pick players based on merit and not past achievements,” one user remarked.