Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir successfully led his side to their third T20 World Cup title with a win over New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Sunday. With this triumph in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, Gambhir has won his second ICC trophy as coach of the Indian team after the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025 and fourth in total, including the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup, which he won as a player.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on Gambhir, especially the way the latter handled the many superstar players in the squad.
“I think Gautam Gambhir gets a lot of stick in India because primarily the Test team have not performed. But in white-ball cricket, if you look at what he’s doing now… he’s won the Champions Trophy, won a T20 World Cup, won an Asia Cup as well. He knows what he’s doing with the white-ball team and he’s taken the white-ball team from what was an excellent squad when he took over the job. You know, let’s be honest, I wouldn’t mind coaching this Indian side!” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
Under Gambhir, India’s Test record has not been great, with the side being whitewashed against South Africa and New Zealand at home. They also lost 1-3 against Australia in their five-match Test tour Down Under and drew 2-2 with England in England. But when it comes to white-ball cricket, it’s a different story. India haven’t lost a T20I series under Gambhir while also winning the Champions Trophy in ODI format.
‘Takes a great deal of leadership to manage superstar players’
Vaughan backed Gambhir as a great coach to withstand all the external pressure and continue in his job.
“I don’t think it takes a great deal, but it takes a great deal of management and it takes a great deal of leadership to manage a lot of superstar players. And not only the superstar players that are in the XI, you’ve got a few that aren’t in the team, and then you’ve got many more trying to get into the team,” he said.
“And with the fanatical support that you have here in India and the media scrutiny… you mentioned the memes and the GIFs and all this stuff about the Indian side going back to Ahmedabad… well, the coach has to deal with that. And he has to try and calm this team down, and he’s done a wonderful job. I think in white-ball cricket, you’ve got an exceptional coach. He’s just got to try and move that into the Test matches,” added Vaughan.
