Former South African captain AB de Villiers said he has known Gautam Gambhir as an emotional player and said having an emotional coach is not a good thing to have for Indian cricket. Gambhir is known to wear his heart on his sleeve but he has received a lot of flak after India’s 0-2 whitewash against South Africa.

While India lost the opening Test match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata by 30 runs, the home team was hammered by a gargantuan margin of 408 runs in Guwahati. 

Under Gambhir’s tutelage, India has suffered five losses in the last seven Test matches while playing at home.

“Speaking on behalf of the Indian side, it’s really difficult. I don’t know what GG is like when it comes to leadership. I’ve known him as an emotional player and if that is the case in the change room, generally an emotional coach is not a good thing to have. But it’s not to say he’s that kind of a coach and the kind of leader behind the scenes. There’s no right and wrong. Some players will feel comfortable with a former player. Some players will be comfortable with a coach that’s never played the game before but he’s got a lot of years of experience of coaching the game,” De Villiers said on R Ashwin’s YouTube channel.

The former RCB batter said he loved playing under the guidance of former South African opener, Gary Kirsten.

“It’s a tough question because I’ve never played under Shukri and I’ve never been in the Indian dressing room with GG, Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate. It looks great on paper but I don’t know what the dynamic is like behind the scenes. What I can say is it is different for every player. I absolutely love playing under Gary Kirsten; he’s a former player and similar to Gautam Gambhir. Some players might find confidence and feel comfortable with a former player being there, a great of the game and find some extra inspiration to put extra yards for the team and for the coach,” de Villiers said.

India will next take on South Africa in a three-match ODI series.