3 min readJun 30, 2026 07:15 PM IST
Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed Gautam Gambhir after the Indian head coach came under scrutiny for the team selections following India’s 2-0 defeat to Ireland in the T20I series.
The 39-year-old said that Gambhir was a ‘very misunderstood person’ and Indian cricket supporters are yet to understand that a difference in point of view did not imply the other person had to be disliked.
“When there are talks about Gambhir, sometimes it comes out in a manner where we don’t get it in a way that he is trying to say it. I think he is a very misunderstood person. There could be personal things. In India and Indian cricket, it will take us time to realise that a difference in view or point of view does not mean that you don’t like the other person. It is okay to disagree. Like and point of view are very different,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Gambhir came under the scanner largely because of non-selection of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryvanshi in the playing XI for the two-match series and instead, picking the tried and tested opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.
Ashwin also backed Gambhir’s thought process of picking all-rounders in white-ball cricket, admitting that two-dimensional players added more balance to the side.
“India under Gambhir values someone who can bat and bowl a bit as well, then you will be in. Sometimes I am not okay with this that all of this comes into Test cricket as well, which I am not agreeing with. In T20 cricket, if a batter who comes at 6 or 7 can give a bit of bowling as well, it lends a lot of balance to your team. Someone who can consistently finish innings for you at 5, 6, or 7, those should be valued and given a slightly longer rope,” Ashwin said.
India’s results under Gambhir have oscillated between excellent in global events and sometimes ordinary in bilateral series.
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India won the T20 World Cup in March, but prior to that triumph, lost an ODI series to New Zealand at home and Australia away from home.
