Speaking at the Forbes India event, Gambhir went on to provide insight into his leadership philosophy and potentially foreshadow his approach if he were to take charge of the Indian national team.
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According to Gambhir, a true leader must treat all members of the team equally, regardless of their stature or experience. He emphasized that a captain should not differentiate between senior players like Rohit Sharma, who has led India across formats and won multiple IPL titles with MI, and the youngest member of the squad.
“Look, first and foremost, treat Rohit Sharma and the youngest team, the youngest member of the dressing room exactly the same way. Absolutely exactly the same way. It is a tough job, but leaders are bound to take tough decisions and are bound to do difficult things as well. That is why you’re the leader. Otherwise, you would end up becoming a follower, said the former Indian international.
He further elaborated that true leadership stems from self-belief and courage, enabling a captain to establish a consistent and fair approach for all team members.
He rejected the notion of different rules for different players, emphasizing that profiles and past achievements should not influence a leader’s decisions.
“And to do that, you need to have a lot of self-belief, a lot of courage as well. And that is for me the first and foremost quality of being a true leader because you’re true to the entire squad or entire bunch of people sitting in that dressing room. You cannot have different rules and you cannot have different things for different individuals. Looking at the profile, you do not look at profiles when you want to become a leader. If you want to become a leader, profiles do not matter,” added Gambhir.
Gambhir’s comments shed light on the importance of impartiality, fairness, and consistency in leadership roles within a team environment. However, it remains to be seen whether Gambhir’s vision will be put into practice at the national level.
