The Gautam Gambhir era in Indian cricket is all set to kickstart on Saturday with the first T20I against Sri Lanka, which will be his first assignment as Team India head coach. Gambhir has arrived in the Indian cricket team coaching set-up with a big reputation after guiding the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL title this year as a mentor.

However, Gambhir will be under a bit of pressure to carry forward the legacy of Rahul Dravid, who guided the Indian team to the T20 World Cup in his final assignment. Under Dravid's guidance, India also reached the final of World Test Championship 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023.

Former Sri Lanka cricketer Russel Arnold has backed Gamhir in producing good results in his new role, considering his past experience as a mentor in IPL.

"Well, it will be interesting, but Gautam Gambhir, as you said, knows his stuff. He knows how to handle people, he knows how to handle teams and whatever team he’s been involved with has got the results," Arnold told News18 CricketNext.

Gambhir doesn't have the experience of being a head coach of a professional team, but he did impress many with his tactical approach and man-management ability during his time as mentor of LSG and KKR in IPL.

Meanwhile, Arnold asserted that Gambhir's coaching style will be different from the others in past, which will be good for the players to get shaken up a bit and get out of a familiar system.

"So sometimes players, when we play, we are able to go out there and perform, but then it becomes a challenge to get a message across, and get others to perform, which Gautam Gambhir has shown that he can do. We definitely know it’s going to be a different style. There’ll be a bit of adjustment for people to come to terms with Gautam Gambhir, but I think the change is also good because then you become too familiar with one system and hence they’ll be shaken up, maybe even woken up that you still need to get better and you still need to perform a lot more," he added.

The former Sri Lanka cricketer suggested that exciting times are ahead for Indian cricket, with Gambhir taking over the charge.

"So, I think going in opposite directions it might just excite everyone and keep everyone on their toes too," he concluded.