Afghanistan wicket-keeper bat Rahmanullah Gurbaz has rated Gautam Gambhir as the best coach he has played under amid the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa. Gurbaz played under Gambhir’s tutelage when Kolkata Knight Riders lifted the IPL 2024 trophy when the latter was the team’s mentor.
Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has received a lot of flak after a 0-2 Test series loss against South Africa. While India suffered a 30-run loss at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, the hosts were hammered by a huge margin of 408 runs at Guwahati.
India has lost five out of their last seven Test matches at home under Gambhir’s tutelage, and the pressure is mounting on the former Indian opener in the red-ball version.
“He’s the best ever coach, human being, and mentor that I have had in my career so far. I love the way he goes about things,” Rahmanullah Gurbaz told PTI on the sidelines of the ILT20 2026 season.
“When you have a good team environment, you will always be on top. He made the environment very easy for us, nothing stressful, nothing strict, and that is why we won the tournament. He is not strict, but he is disciplined. He is only strict when something goes against discipline” he added.
Gurbaz said a small fraction of people will be against Gautam Gambhir, and believes it doesn’t make much sense to pay them much importance.
“If 1.4 billion people are there in your country, you can say that 2-3 million people will be against him. The rest are with Gautam sir and the Indian team. It doesn’t make much sense to talk about them,” Gurbaz said.
“India just won the Champions Trophy in ODI format, Asia Cup in T20 Format. They have won a lot of series, so you can’t blame them for one series,” he added.
The second ODI between India and South Africa will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur, on Wednesday.
