Gambhir in favour of specialist T20 coaches

The cricketer- turned-politician said that a batting coach can be appointed exclusively for the shortest format of the game. “Probably, you can just have a different batting coach for T20s, just for that particular format. It is really not true that someone who hasn’t played international cricket or who hasn’t played enough cricket can’t become a successful coach,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ show “Cricket Connected”.

“What ultimately a coach does in T20 format is frees your mindset, feeds your mindset and makes you hit those goals and those big shots,” he added. The World Cup-winning opener said the job of the batting coach in T20 cricket is not to teach how to hit shots.

“No one teaches you how to hit a lap shot or a reverse lap shot, no coach can do that. If someone is trying to do that to a player, he is harming him more than actually making him a better player.” However, Gambhir is of the opinion that being a successful player helps become a better selector.

“It is not important that you have played a lot of cricket for you to be a very successful coach. Probably, that is right for a selector but not for a coach.”