India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir has given a blunt response on player management and meeting their expectations. Ahead of the fifth T20I against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton, Gambhir reflected
on his philosophy and ideology, while revealing how he manages a deep squad while keeping the players happy. Men in Blue are currently touring New Zealand for a multi-format tour, which kicked off with a five-match T20I series.
The Shreyas Iyer led side to record a dominating series win before falling to the Blackcaps by a margin of 87 runs in the fourth T20I. As both sides locked horns for the last time in the shortest format in Hamilton, India coach Gautam Gambhir reflected on his philosophies and work ideologies.
🔴MY JOB IS NOT TO MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY – GAMBHIR 🤯
Gautam Gambhir🎙️: “First of all my job is not to make everyone happy. My job is to take the right decisions, not the popular decisions.& that is what I’m there for. I think sometimes in today’s day and age with so much of social media and all that chatter, what happens on the outside”
Meanwhile Sanju Samson gone for 4 of 10 balls. 😭
— Sam (@cricsam02) November 1, 2026
He said, “First of all my job is not to make everyone happy. My job is to take the right decisions, not the popular decisions. And that is what I’m there for. I think sometimes in today’s day and age with so much of social media and all that chatter, what happens on the outside.”
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It is very easy to take the popular decision: Gautam Gambhir
Notably, Gambhir has time and again faced scrutiny for backing Sanju Samson despite the batter struggling to perform consistently. Even in the ongoing series, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was benched in the fourth and fifth T20Is, despite having hit 45 runs in 19 balls during the third clash of the series. Sanju Samson, once again failed to make a mark with the bat, and got dismissed on 18 runs in the fourth T20I and four runs in the fifth T20I.
“It is very easy to take the popular decision. But for me, I think the important thing is to take the right decision and make sure that there is a lot of security inside the dressing room. Because as you just mentioned that there’s a lot of talent. But again, I think guys have done phenomenally well over a longer period of time. Obviously deserves a longer rope. And that is exactly how we approach the series,” he added.
Following the conclusion of the T20I series, India and New Zealand will contest in a three-game ODI series, marking the return of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in international competition scenario.
