Gautam Gambhir has been named India cricket team's new head coach as he took over the charge from Rahul Dravid, whose tenure ended with the T20 World Cup. Gambhir, who won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup, has previously mentored the IPL teams, but it will be his first stint as a head coach. The legendary cricketer was linked with one of the most important positions in Indian cricket for the past couple of months, and the BCCI secretary Jay Shah put a stamp on it on Tuesday. India's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in late July will be Gambhir's first assignment as coach of the national team.

Gautam Gambhir - The Batter

The left-handed batter made his international debut in 2003 in an ODI match against Bangladesh, but it took him a few years to make a mark and become a permanent member of the Indian set-up. After Rahul Dravid's team poor campaign in the 2007 ODI World Cup, India entered a transition phase where Gambhir was called back into the side, and he made his presence felt with consistent performances in the ODI series against England.

However, it was the inaugural T20 World Cup where he became a household name in Indian cricket. The Delhi-born played a pivotal role in India's glorious journey to the title win as he also scored a match-winning 75 against Pakistan in the final. He didn't look back after that and became an integral part of the Indian team across formats. He played several match-winning knocks in both white-ball and red-ball formats to become one of the most successful left-handers in Indian cricket history. Gambhir is the only Indian -- and one of four international cricketers, including Don Bradman, Jacques Kallis and Mohammad Yousuf -- to have scored centuries in five successive Test matches.

He won two major accolades in 2009 - the Arjuna Award and ICC Test Player of the Year.

Gambhir retired from all forms of cricket in March 2019, having played 58 Tests, 147 ODIs and 37 T20Is. Gambhir has over 15,000 runs in first-class cricket and over 10,000 runs in the one day format. He scored 4154 runs in Test cricket at an average of 41.95 with nine centuries and 22 half-centuries. In ODIs, the left-handed batter scored 5238 runs at an average of 39.68 with 11 centuries and 34 half-centuries while in T20Is, Gambhir hit 932 runs in 37 matches with five half-centuries at a strike rate of 119.02.

Gautam Gambhir - The Big Match Player

Gambhir was the man of big occasions as he played two of the most important knocks in Indian cricket history - 75 against Pakistan in 2007 T20 WC final and 97 against Sri Lanka in 2011 ODI World Cup. He stood tall when the odds were not in India's favour and reduced them from difficult situations. In the 2007 showpiece event, India were without senior opener Virender Sehwag, and they lost a couple of early wickets, but Gambhir held one end and fought hard with his 75-run knock, which was almost half of the team's total 157/5. A similar situation arose in the 2011 WC final when India lost Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag early in the chase, but Gambhir came to their rescue and played a fighting 97-run knock to set up the foundation of a historic win.

He also played some memorable knocks in red-ball cricket, but the one that is etched in Indian cricket history is his 11-hour marathon knock in Napier against New Zealand. Team India was forced to follow on, and the left-handed batter stood tall with a 137-run knock off 436 balls in tough batting conditions to rescue the team. The match ended in a draw.

GG - The Captain and Mentor

Gambhir is also one of the most iconic figures in the Indian Premier League - he started his career with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), but it was Kolkata Knight Riders where he achieved the glories of his career both as a captain and a mentor. He led the KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014 and became a cult figure in Kolkata. However, his association as a KKR player ended after the 2017 season. He returned to Delhi in 2018, but it didn't work out well for him, and he retired from the league.

In IPL 2022, Gambhir returned to the cash-rich league but in a different role - mentor and he was in charge of a new team, Lucknow Super Giants. The veteran cricketer groomed the young talent in the side as they reached the playoffs for back-to-back seasons to start their IPL journey. However, 2024 brought a major u-turn in his life as Gambhir returned to KKR in the role of a mentor. The left-handed batter shares a great camaraderie with team co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, and it didn't take the latter much to convince his former skipper to return in the purple and golden outfit.

Gambhir brought a revolution in the side and instilled a winning mentality in the players who had a deep respect for a player, who led the same team to IPL titles in the past. Captain Shreyas Iyer and players followed his instructions and they went on to lift their third IPL title on May 26 at Chepauk Stadium, Chennai. The BCCI and fans were highly impressed with Gambhir's man management and tactical brain at KKR as he got linked with India's head coach position even before the final and on July 9 it became a reality.

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