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Brendon McCullum praises India head coach Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir

The Indian team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, is set to host a five-match T20 series with England at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata from January 22. In this series, all eyes are on head coach Gautam Gambhir. Coach Gambhir, who came under pressure after continuous failures, has got some support from England head coach Brendon McCullum. Coach McCullum has praised the leadership ability of the former cricketer before the first match of the series.

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach has had many challenges so far. The recent defeats in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia have raised questions on his role. With the defeat to New Zealand, India lost a home Test series for the first time in 12 years, while losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia after dominating for nearly a decade is also another setback.

In the white ball format, Gautam Gambhir’s Indian team has achieved success in both home and overseas T20 matches but in the last 27 years, the team has lost only in the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Despite these failures, Brendon McCullum believes that Gambhir is the right coach to take India forward.

Brendon McCullum said:

“All I will say about Indian coach Gautam Gambhir is that I have worked with him. He is a great and a strong leader. And whatever kind of leadership he has handled before, he has done well in it. He has just joined this team but I have no doubt that he will bring out the best of his talent. And then we have to find a way to counter it with our style”

Brendon McCullum also confirmed that Jos Buttler will give up wicketkeeping responsibilities during the T20 series and focus on captaincy off the field. In his place, Phil Salt will be behind the stumps while Buttler will also get a chance to talk to the bowler if needed.

He will not be wicketkeeping and will captain from the field. This is a positive for us as it will give Jos Buttler a chance to make the final decision with the bowler and build that relationship in the last seconds rather than being in the 22 yards and we have great wicketkeeping options in the squad.

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