Harsha Bhogle reveals Gautam Gambhir blueprint that worked at KKR in IPL and how it’s working with Suryakumar Yadav’s India

India won their third consecutive ICC trophy on March 8 in Ahmedabad. Suryakumar Yadav lifted the T20 World Cup as captain for the first time and Gautam Gambhir picked up his second ICC title as head coach.

The celebrations have been loud and they have been deserved. Now Harsha Bhogle has added something to the conversation that goes beyond the match winners and the tournament stats. The cricket analyst and commentator has explained in both a video and a Facebook and Instagram post caption what he believes made this team genuinely different and his answer has nothing to do with any individual player’s technique or any specific tactical masterstroke.

Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav go all the way back to KKR and that is where this story starts

The foundation of Harsha Bhogle’s argument is the relationship between Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir. It is not a new relationship built around this World Cup campaign. It goes back to KKR where Gambhir as captain looked at Suryakumar and decided he was his vice-captain. That shared history and that shared understanding of what T20 cricket actually requires is at the core of how this team thinks and how it makes decisions under pressure.

“There is something in the air that this team is breathing. Which brings me to Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir. The two go all the way back to KKR. When Gautam Gambhir is captain, he sees something in Suryakumar Yadav and says, you will be my vice-captain. Now the two get along because they just get T20 cricket. Nobody gets T20 cricket the way Gautam Gambhir does. See what he did with KKR. See the team he put together for Lucknow Super Giants in its first couple of years,” Harsha Bhogle said in his video.

From that foundation Harsha Bhogle pointed to two specific decisions during the tournament that showed exactly the kind of clear thinking this management brings. Moving a wicketkeeper up the batting order at the cost of Jitesh Sharma’s place was one. Addressing the left-hander imbalance at the top was the other.

Both decisions required the kind of confidence that only comes from a management that knows exactly what it wants and is not worried about the reaction. “I thought it was a very very bold move. A little sad on Jitesh Sharma, but a very bold move to have that wicket keeper up there. Fantastic course correction to say I have got three left-handers at the top. They are all doing very well but it is giving an opportunity to the opposition to have a go at us. If it means that Tilak Varma has to go from three to five, so be it.” Tilak did not just accept the move. He went and reinvented himself at number five and that kind of response only comes from a player who feels genuinely trusted.

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Harsha Bhogle believes they brought Sanju Samson back and never lost faith in anyone

The second part of Harsha Bhogle’s argument is about the players who were dropped, questioned and ultimately delivered. Sanju Samson was left out before the tournament, recalled, given five matches and then dropped again before being brought back and finishing as Player of the Tournament with 89 in the final. Abhishek Sharma went through difficult patches where the outside noise got loud but the management did not blink.

Varun Chakravarthy was trusted with the ball in the biggest moments of the tournament despite plenty of questions about his consistency at the highest level. None of these players were protected from scrutiny but all of them knew the management had not given up on them and that made all the difference.

“They bring Sanju Samson back. They show faith in Sanju Samson. Even when they drop him, they give him five matches, and then they leave him out. They never lose faith in Abhishek Sharma. They never lose faith in Varun Chakravarthy. And I just get the feeling inside that camp, everybody is saying, I think this team believes in me. I think they have faith in me. And I think that is such an important part of putting together a team that is going to go. and play high-risk cricket to go and win a World Cup,” Harsha Bhogle said.

It is a straightforward point but it is the right one. Players who feel backed take risks. Players who feel one bad game away from being dropped play it safe. This India team played anything but safe.

The thing in the air that made high risk cricket feel natural

Harsha Bhogle’s conclusion pulls everything together and it is the part that is hardest to measure but easiest to see when you are watching. On Instagram Harsha Bhogle wrote his caption directly. “I just get the feeling inside that camp, everybody knows they will be backed by the management and for a team that is going to go and play high risk cricket, it’s a very important part.”

The moments that win T20 World Cups do not come from cautious cricketers. They come from players willing to play the unconventional shot with the game on the line, to bowl the risky delivery to a set batter, to back themselves when the safer option is sitting right there. Those moments only happen when the dressing room allows them to happen.

As per Harsha Bhogle, Gambhir has built that culture at every team he has been involved with going back to his KKR days and he has now done it with India. Suryakumar as captain has carried it onto the field in the way he leads and the way he backs his players in the same manner he was once backed himself. Three consecutive ICC trophies later Harsha Bhogle is simply putting into words what most people watching this team already felt but could not quite explain.