It’s an open secret in Indian cricket that senior batter Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir don’t see eye-to-eye anymore. After two years together, their relationship is now being described closed
to the controversial, and outright ugly pairing of Gregg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly.
A PTI report has now detailed the chronolgical degradation. The start of it is the most extraordinary: the report claims that when Gambhir was considered the front-runner to replace Rahul Dravid as the head coach in 2024, Rohit went to the then Kolkata Knight Riders mentor and personally requested him to take the job.
During a IPL training session at the Wankhede, Rohit is said to have told Gambhir, “Gauti bhai Indian team mein aa jaao‘ (Gauti brother, join the Indian team), and Gambhir replied: ‘If you remain captain, I will definitely join’.”
However, the report said, some people close to Rohit warned him that he might not be able to adjust to Gambhir’s style of coaching, after having a highly successful time with Dravid. As it happened, after India’s home Test series whitewash to New Zealand in 2024, Gambhir’s second Test series as coach, cracks in the relationship began to emerge, which worsened during the tour of Australia.
The report said thatRohit’s infamous interview after sitting out of the fifth Test against Australia left Gambhir ‘stunned’.
The breaking point
Even after guiding India to the Champions Trophy triumph, Rohit’s long-term future remained a subject of internal debate.
The report claimed there were conflicting accounts over discussions ahead of the England Test tour, with Rohit’s camp sayinng he had committed to playing all five Tests and had even discussed England’s bowling attack with Gambhir. But the selection committee alleged Rohit had indicated he would reassess his future after the opening two Tests, a proposal the selectors were unwilling to accept.
Eventually, Rohit chose to retire from Test cricket after being informed that he would otherwise be left out of the squad.
According to the report, the relationship suffered the biggest setback when Rohit was removed as India’s ODI captain just months after lifting the Champions Trophy. The decision, taken with an eye on preparing for the 2027 ODI World Cup, severely dented Rohit’s trust in the team management.
Those cracks don’t look like getting better anymore.
