Veteran Indian national cricket team all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has highlighted a key difference between current head coach Gautam Gambhir and former head coach Rahul Dravid.

World Cup winner Gautam Gambhir joined the Indian team as head coach after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 when Rahul Dravid stepped down.

Dravid left a great legacy behind as in his last assignment, he ensured that India clinched the T20 World Cup title and ended their ICC trophy drought. Apart from that, under Rahul Dravid, India continued their dominance in world cricket and played the final of the ICC World Cup 2023 and the ICC World Test Championship 2023 and also won the Asia Cup 2023.

Gautam Gambhir was chosen for the head coach’s post despite not having any significant coaching experience, having only been a mentor in the Indian Premier League. However, the BCCI trusted him as it wanted an Indian to replace Rahul Dravid.

Gautam Gambhir has played his role well with the team so far. He started his stint with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in a T20I series but lost his next ODI assignment against the Lankan Lions by 0-2.

However, after quickly putting the setback behind them, Gautam Gambhir began his tenure as the red-ball head coach with the home Test series against Bangladesh and India won the opener in dominant fashion.

The next few months will be crucial for Gautam Gambhir and his team as they will decide whether or not India will play in the ICC World Test Championship final for the third consecutive time.

Rahul Dravid wanted everything to be in order. With Gautam Gambhir, he didn’t expect all that – Ravichandran Ashwin

After the first Test against Bangladesh, Ravichandran Ashwin revealed the key difference between Gautam Gambhir and Dravid. He claimed that Dravid was a strict coach who wanted everything to be in order and on the other hand, Gambhir is not like that.

Ravichandran Ashwin added that Gautam Gambhir is still quite relaxed and called it a “relaxed club”. It is worth noting that Ashwin had already shared the dressing room with Gambhir during his playing days.

“I think he is very relaxed. I want to call it ‘relaxed ranch’. There is no pressure at all. In the morning, there will be a team meeting. He is also very relaxed about it. He says something like ‘are you coming? Please come’. It’s like that,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“When we came here, Rahul Bhai wanted everything to be in order – even a bottle has to be kept in a certain place at a certain time. He is very disciplined. He wanted everything to be in order,” he added.

“With Gambhir, you don’t expect all that. He has a relaxed disposition. He will be a man of the people. He will capture everyone’s heart. I think the boys will love him,” he said.

Meanwhile, under Gambhir, India will play a three-match Test series against New Zealand after the conclusion of the series against Bangladesh.