Gambhir lays emphasis on putting arms around shoulders of youngsters when going gets tough

MUMBAI: Gautam Gambhir is a seamless integration of combativeness and empathy.

His drive to win games of cricket at all costs remains intact, but that doesn't stop the India head coach from showing warmth while dealing with youngsters under pressure to perform in top-flight cricket, even if it means "putting an arm" around the shoulder of a player.

By his own admission, he has found the job of coaching Team India quite different from his playing days, when he would not shy away from having on-field confrontations.

"Me?… Nice perception to have. I don't think so," Gambhir said during his press conference here on Thursday when asked if he was angry in the confines of the dressing room after India's first-ever Test series loss to New Zealand at home.

Down 0-2, India will play for pride in the third and final Test starting here from Friday.

"I'll be honest, I never expected a very easy run for me (as a coach) because international cricket is never easy. I know that we lost in Sri Lanka, we've lost at home as well against New Zealand. It's not the great place to be in," he admitted.

"But all we can do is be absolutely honest to ourselves and keep working hard, keep working hard with the group and keep preparing them well and keep getting the results.

"Ultimately, we want to try and win every game that we represent the country in," he added.

Since taking over the reigns of the most high-profile coaching job in cricket, Gambhir's tenure has seen more downs than ups, including a first ODI series loss to Sri Lanka in 27 years and a first Test series loss on home soil in 12 years.

The journey has been a challenging one to say the least and it is not going to get easier by any means in the coming months.

India are required to win four out of their next six Tests — five of them will be against Australia Down Under — as there is a serious threat to the team's quest for a spot in the summit clash of the World Test Championship next year.

"You realise when you are playing, it's a completely different thing to when you are coaching. You can only control certain things. You can't just walk into the middle..."

"But yes, it's also important to give people freedom and sometimes when things aren't going your way, it's always better to have your arm around the shoulder of a player, that is important.

"That is something which is probably very important once you end up taking up this coaching job," he said.

Gambhir said while it is hypothetical at this point in time to talk about having separate Test team going forward but admitted that India must identify batters who are able to handle the grind of red-ball cricket.

"See, at the moment it's difficult to answer this question. But going forward, obviously, we will have to identify players who are solid red-ball cricketers," he said.

"Because ultimately, to get the results, you will have to work really hard for three or four days or (even) five days to be honest. Sometimes, as I just mentioned, it's important to bat sessions as well.

"If you can bat sessions, we know that we've got the bowling attack to take wickets. At the moment it's difficult to answer because it's a hypothetical question. But yes, identifying the right red-ball batters is very, very important," he added.

Gambhir said India's first series loss at home in 12 years should hurt the young players as much as it has hurt the seniors.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Obviously, it's hurting and it's good that it's hurting, because it should hurt," he said.

"Every time you lose a game, be it at home or be it away from home, it should hurt and that hurt will make us better. Sometimes people say that it should not hurt. But it should hurt.

"When you're playing for your country, what's wrong in being in that position? The more, especially for the youngsters, it's hurting them.

"I'm sure they're going to push themselves to keep getting better because that is exactly what we want them to be — pushing themselves every day to be a better cricketer and to do something special."