India won the ICC Champions Trophy for the second time on Sunday, 9th March. While everyone is congratulating Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli for this feat, very few are talking about the coach of the Indian men’s team, Gautam Gambhir, aka GG. The coach has also played a significant role in India winning the Champions Trophy. After the bad days in Test cricket, Gambhir has silenced the critics by finally maintaining a streak of winning matches, the ODI series against England, and then dominating the Champions Trophy after being invincible. It was not easy for Gambhir either, taking tough calls on the squad and bringing in Varun Chakravarthy faced criticism overall. However, there are five masterstrokes by Gautam Gambhir, which earned the silverware.
Axar Patel at number 5 and KL Rahul as finisher
There was a lot of talk when Gautam Gambhir promoted all-rounder Axar Patel to number 5 and made KL Rahul, who usually played at number 5, a finisher at number 6. The coach believed in having the left-right combination. Since the top order was filled with right-handed batters, GG decided to put left-hander Axar Patel at number 5 and give KL Rahul the role of the finisher, where he had to score runs at a high strike rate with less time to settle. This helped in having the right combination. Axar Patel played well after settling. At the same time, KL Rahul also understood his role, and due to his versatility and experience, he easily settled in and played his role well.
5 spinners despite criticism
Gambhir took five spinners with him to Dubai, including Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar. It was a masterstroke as four of them played. It was a tough call for GG, but he really played a big part in trusting his spinners and winning the trophy along with them, playing just one seamer.
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Inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy
Gautam Gambhir initially decided to take four spinners with him to Dubai. But soon after, he roped in Varun Chakravarthy to the ODI squad during the 3-match series against England. Varun played really well and forced Gambhir to take him to Dubai. Gambhir made a tough call here, removing Yashasvi Jaiswal to include Varun in the squad. At the same time, skipper Rohit Sharma trusted him well. The coach and skipper decided to include Varun in the playing XI after two matches in the Champions Trophy. Varun also met expectations, filling the void of taking wickets in the middle overs and giving India big breakthroughs such as those of Travis Head and Rachin Ravindra in the matches against Australia and New Zealand respectively.
Trusting Mohammed Shami despite injury
Mohammed Shami battled against a tough injury before the Champions Trophy, yet Gambhir trusted him, giving him a chance to play in the tournament. Shami started the tournament strong by taking five wickets against Bangladesh and also led the bowling attack by taking three wickets in the semi-final against Australia. By the end of the tournament, Shami was India’s joint top wicket-taker, with nine wickets in five matches.
Enough ammunition without Bumrah
Initially, it was believed that Bumrah would regain fitness before the ICC Champions Trophy. However, his healing process took longer than expected, preventing him from participating in the tournament. It was a setback, but still, without Bumrah, Gambhir trusted players like Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana. The 23-year-old played really well in the tournament supporting Shami. He helped Shami by putting pressure on the opposition, allowing the experienced bowler to take wickets.
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