Rinku Singh's comments in support of Gautam Gambhir show Sunil Gavaskar jumped the gun with 'Gamball' criticism

Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar had recently come down heavily on terming India’s aggressive batting approach as “Gamball" and crediting the change in mindset to new head coach Gautam Gambhir. The former India opener claimed that dubbing the aggressive approach as “Gamball” was “ foot-licking of the highest quality”.

“Gambhir has only been coaching for a couple of months, so attributing this approach to him is foot-licking of the highest quality. Gambhir himself hardly ever batted in this fashion like McCullum used to do. If any credit is due, it is solely to Rohit and nobody else,” Gavaskar had written in his column for Sportstar.

Gavaskar suggested that captain Rohit Sharma should be given the credit for India’s aggressive batting and the attacking approach should be termed “Gohit”.

Gavaskar, however, might have been a bit too harsh with his comments. While Rohit certainly deserves credit for how India has evolved in their batting style, the praise shouldn’t be limited to just the skipper, especially in a team sport. Take Rinku Singh’s recent comments on Gambhir, for example.

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What Rinku Singh said on Gautam Gambhir

Ever since Rinku Singh broke into the limelight with his batting heroics in IPL 2023, particularly in that match against Gujarat Titans (GT), he has only gone from strength to strength. Even before working under Gambhir at Team India, Rinku worked with the former Delhi cricketer at Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who lifted the IPL title this year. Gambhir, KKR’s mentor in the 2024 season, played the role of a guiding force at the franchise.

So it’s no secret that the two of them share a special rapport in the Indian dressing room. Much recently, Rinku amassed 53 runs off 29 balls during India’s second T20I against Bangladesh in Delhi on Wednesday, and that included a 108-run stand from 49 balls with Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored 74 runs.

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When asked at the post-match press conference regarding India’s approach, Rinku revealed that Gambhir as well as skipper Suryakumar Yadav gave him and his teammates the licence to kill. “The coach and captain have asked us to play our game and whatever the situation (is), the message from them is maarte jao ball ko (just keep hitting the ball).

“(The) coach has asked us to back ourselves and play your game. He has given us full freedom to hit the ball,” Rinku had said.

Rinku, for his part, is not wrong when he says that Gambhir encourages the players to go big. This has been pivotal to him winning two IPL titles with KKR as captain.

Gambhir may not have been known for his big-hitting skills during his playing days, but coaching is a different ball game. An athlete’s coaching style doesn’t always mirror his playing style.

Rahul Dravid’s coaching style

Take Rahul Dravid for example. The Wall, as he was fondly called during his playing days, was known for his conservative yet solid approach while batting. Who can forget his double century in the first innings and a 170-ball 72 in the second innings of the Adelaide Test against Australia in 2003?

Almost two decades later, Dravid was appointed India’s coach and brought with him a completely different style of coaching. He encouraged players to take a more aggressive approach in T20Is, after that disastrous T20 World Cup campaign in 2021.

In T20Is, during the powerplays, it was more about taking calculated risks while batting, rather than looking to save India’s wickets at hand.

Dravid’s coaching helped India reach the ODI World Cup final in 2023 and they ended their 11-year ICC title drought with the T20 World Cup win in West Indies earlier this year.

Rohit Sharma’s aggression

Indeed, Dravid didn’t achieve all of this alone. He was well supported by the team and captain Rohit Sharma, in particular, who drastically changed his game in powerplays. His aggressive approach played a big role in shaping India’s intent which eventually led to an ICC title win for the first time since 2013.

Rohit had a strike rate of 126 in the 2023 ODI World Cup which was only behind Travis Head (127.5) among openers and the India captain scored at the rate of 157 in T20 World Cup 2024 which was the third-highest among players who scored over 200 runs.

Rohit was also the one who set the tone with two sixes on the first two balls as India went on to set the record for the fastest team 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 scores in the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh and clinched a win even after rain washing out over two days of play.

But Rohit would be the first to admit that in a team environment, one person doesn’t bring all the changes. Yes, the captain is the leader, and Rohit has led from the front, but the coaches — both Dravid and Gambhir — have been his most trusted lieutenants and sources of support. They’ve played significant roles in helping India change their batting approach and shed inhibitions. So, to suggest that praising Gambhir is akin to foot-licking is a bit too much, Mr. Gavaskar!