Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh recently praised head coach Gautam Gambhir for his sharp mindset, which he believes has helped take the Indian cricket team to greater heights. Gambhir took charge as head coach of the Indian men’s team in 2024, succeeding Rahul Dravid. Since then, India have won the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the T20 World Cup in 2026. However, despite these high points, the team has also endured setbacks, including the loss of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and home Test series whitewash against New Zealand and South Africa.
Speaking to Sports Tak, Yuvraj said that Gambhir has always possessed a winner’s mentality, both during his playing days and now as a coach.
“I have been playing with Gautam since the under-16 and under-19 levels. I always felt that Gautam had a strong cricketing brain. Whenever we spoke about cricket and how he perceived the game, it was clear that he thought deeply about it. And obviously, as someone who has been a successful player for India, who played crucial roles in winning two World Cups and produced great innings in both finals, he naturally carries the confidence of thinking at the highest level,” Yuvraj said.
He further highlighted Gambhir’s success in the IPL as a mentor, particularly with Kolkata Knight Riders.
“I think the mentorship he provided at KKR speaks for itself. The team won under his leadership once as captain and then won again when he returned as a mentor. He must be doing something right. Everyone has likes and dislikes-that is bound to happen-but when you become the Indian coach, there are far too many eyes watching you,” he added.
Reflecting on India’s Test series losses, Yuvraj stated that Gambhir remained committed to his process, a belief that eventually helped the Indian team bounce back strongly.
“Again, if you make a mistake, it will be seen a hundred times. If you do something good, it will be seen a thousand times. So he went through the criticism of when India lost the Test series. And then he stuck to his process. And sticking to his process, now the Indian team has produced to win the world cup. Now Gautam is back on the high. That’s life. It’s going to be up and down. That’s what we’ve learnt,” he said.
“But the point is, because he stuck to his process, the team showed results. That no, I want to play this brand of cricket. If we fail in this, then we fail. But I’m going to stick to this game plan. With Surya obviously, the captain makes a huge difference. So I feel because they stuck to this game plan, it created a lot of fear in the opposition as well. That we are coming after you from the first ball,” he added.