Gautam Gambhir becomes India’s most successful head coach; how his stint in the backroom staff has panned out so far

Gautam Gambhir became the most successful coach in the history of Indian cricket after the Men in Blue lifted the 2026 T20 World Cup trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, beating New Zealand in the final in front of a 100,000-plus crowd. Since taking over from Rahul Dravid in July 2024, Gambhir’s “Midas touch” in white-ball cricket has helped the Indian team rewrite history over the past one and a half years.

Gambhir took over the reins despite having no prior coaching experience. The only experience on his resume after his playing career was a three-year mentorship stint in the Indian Premier League. The Delhi lad began with Lucknow Super Giants, guiding the team to the playoffs in the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons. The following year, Gambhir moved to Kolkata Knight Riders, helping the franchise win its third IPL title alongside captain Shreyas Iyer.

As a player, Gambhir's credentials were never in question. In fact, Gambhir's contributions in the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup were crucial to India lifting the title on both occasions. But as far as his coaching was concerned, people were sceptical at first about how long Gambhir would sustain at the top level.

Gautam Gambhir's initial days

After a mixed bag of a Sri Lanka tour (lost ODI series, won T20I series), India's first Test series win under Gambhir was a 2-0 home series win over Bangladesh. However, the Indian team stumbled when faced with the best. The then Rohit Sharma-led side lost to New Zealand 0-3 at home before surrendering to Australia 1-4 a couple of months later.

But Gambhir redefined himself by guiding the team to his first-ever ICC trophy win as a head coach when India lifted the Champions Trophy in Dubai, beating New Zealand in the final in 2025. With both Virat Kohli and Rohit retiring from Tests, Gambhir was tasked to guide the new captain, Shubman Gill.

The Gambhir-Gill pair worked as India staged a thrilling fightback to draw the five-match away series against England 2-2. Although India won 2-0 against the West Indies, the home team once again stumbled in front of South Africa in a two-match series, losing on both occasions.

India's T20I dominance

Despite his red-ball failures, white-ball cricket is somewhere Gambhir's ideology thrived, especially in the shortest format of the game. Blocking the outside noise, Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav led the Indian team to an Asia Cup triumph in 2025. However, India is yet to win the Asia Cup trophy after it refused to accept the silverware from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chairman and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi.

The former Indian southpaw redefined the national team's fearless, selfless approach, keeping pace with the requirements of modern-day cricket. Another principle of Gambhir's has been 'team first' over individual milestones. That carried forward into the T20 World Cup 2026, as the Men in Blue recorded three 250-plus scores in the tournament.

Indian team coaches with ICC trophies

It must also be noted that Gambhir is yet to lose a final (as a player or a coach). As a player, Gambhir won the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2012 and 2014 editions of IPL, while as a mentor/coach, he won IPL 2024, the ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup, both in 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2026. No coach of the Indian team has won three finals before.

Gautam Gambhir's report card as India coach

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