File photo of Gautam Gambhir© AFP
Former South Africa cricket team skipper Faf Du Plessis said that although Gautam Gambhir is the ‘villain in the story’ for his opponents, the India head coach has played a unique role for Indian cricket. Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles as a captain and another one in 2024 as their mentor. For the Indian cricket team, he won both T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup in 2011. During his tenure as coach, India won the Champions Trophy in 2025 and T20 World Cup in 2026. Du Plessis praised Gambhir for not caring about what people though about him and concentrates on maintaining high standards.
“My perspective of Gambhir is obviously very different from the guys that have played with him. He is always the villain in the story when it comes to playing against him. But, you respect that. He is so competitive. He doesn’t worry for one second to be liked by anyone,” he said on JioStar.
“His job as a leader is to set high standards and have accountability within the dressing room. And that is what good leaders do. You look from the outside, if you are a leader or a guy that plays against him, you want to beat him, because of the way he carries on as the opposition. But, you respect the fact he has set such high standards,” he added.
Du Plessis went on to point out that Gambhir sets a standard for any team that he takes charge of and hailed the ex-India star as a ‘good leader’ for the way he transformed KKR into a strong side.
“You can see it in the way he talks to the team, he sets a standard and believes if you drop in your stand, I will be on your case. That’s what good leaders do,” said du Plessis. “They don’t slip in those standards. He has created that since his playing days.”
“If you look at his record, you have to take your hat off and say, from a leadership perspective, KKR with him, was a stronger side,” Du Plessis said.