{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "How Rohit Sharma's Push for Gautam Gambhir as Coach Turned Into a Rift",
  "summary": "A fresh account reveals that Rohit Sharma himself pushed to bring Gautam Gambhir on board as Team India's head coach back in 2024, only for their relationship to sour sharply within months.",
  "content": "Team India's one-day setup has been buzzing with talk about Rohit Sharma's future and the mood inside the dressing room over the past few days. Retirement chatter around him picked up just before the Lord's ODI against England, though BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia made it clear that the fixture would not be his last game. Around the same time, a fresh account has surfaced detailing the relationship between Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, a bond that reportedly began on friendly terms before slowly turning tense. What makes it notable is that Rohit himself is said to have set the whole chain of events in motion.\n\nRohit was the one who pushed to bring Gambhir on board\nThe story goes back to 2024, when Kolkata Knight Riders travelled to Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium for an IPL fixture. During that trip, Rohit Sharma met Gautam Gambhir and asked him to join Team India's coaching setup. Gambhir was coaching in the IPL at the time and had not said anything publicly about taking charge of the national side. Responding to Rohit's request, Gambhir smiled and said, \"If you continue as captain, I will definitely join Team India.\" That line would go on to matter a great deal, since the captaincy picture changed completely within a matter of months. At that point, the understanding between the two was seen as strong enough that few could have predicted the same relationship would turn into a major point of friction later.\n\nCracks that started against New Zealand widened in Australia\nThe first signs of discomfort between the two showed up during the home Test series against New Zealand, where Team India suffered a 3-0 clean sweep. The defeat was a big setback for the side, and questions began to surface about the coordination between the coach and the captain. The real clash, though, came later on the tour of Australia. Struggling with poor form, Rohit Sharma wanted to sit out the Sydney Test. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar tried to talk him out of it, warning that skipping the match could affect future selection calls. Rohit stuck to his decision anyway and did not play that game. Around the same period, a remark he made in an interview with a broadcaster drew plenty of attention when he said, \"I know what is right for me.\" The comment reportedly caught both the team management and the selectors off guard, and that is when the distance between the two sides grew further.\n\nResentment deepened once the captaincy was taken away\nAfter Rohit Sharma stepped away from Test cricket, he also lost the ODI captaincy. With the team's longer-term plans in mind, the selectors and team management decided to hand the new responsibility to Shubman Gill. When Rohit was informed of the decision, he was reportedly far from pleased, and the conversation that followed lacked the ease it once had. Even so, Rohit did not back down and kept his focus on his batting and preparation for the upcoming World Cup. However, he was given no firm assurance from the team management about his future, leaving a cloud of uncertainty hanging over his career.\n\nSpeculation flares up again during the England series\nDuring the ongoing series against England, talk resurfaced that selectors do not want to factor Rohit Sharma into plans for the 2027 ODI World Cup, and that the Lord's ODI could turn out to be his final one-dayer. The reports stirred plenty of reaction among fans. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia dismissed the speculation outright, saying there was no truth to the rumours about Rohit's retirement. Even so, the debate over the equations within Team India and Rohit Sharma's road ahead shows no sign of settling down. It will be worth watching in the coming months how Rohit carves out his place and role in ODI cricket, and where his relationship with Gambhir heads from here.\n\nWhat this means for you\nThis story does not directly touch an ordinary reader's money or daily routine, but it matters a lot for cricket followers.\n\n• For cricket fans: Team India's ODI captaincy, the internal coach-player equations, and upcoming decisions about Rohit Sharma's career could all be shaped by this, making the next few squad selections worth watching closely.\n• For those following the Lord's ODI: With Rohit's ODI future uncertain, every match of the ongoing series could now be viewed as a possible near-final chapter of his one-day career.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. Is Rohit Sharma retiring after the Lord's ODI?\nBCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has clarified that the Lord's ODI will not be Rohit's last match and there is no truth to the retirement speculation.\n\n2. Who first pushed for Gautam Gambhir to become Team India's coach?\nDuring Kolkata Knight Riders' 2024 trip to Mumbai, Rohit Sharma himself met Gautam Gambhir and asked him to join Team India's setup.\n\n3. When did the first crack appear in the Rohit-Gambhir relationship?\nThe first signs of discomfort emerged after a 3-0 clean-sweep Test series loss to New Zealand at home, and things worsened further during the Australia tour.\n\n4. Why did Rohit Sharma skip the Sydney Test?\nStruggling with poor form, Rohit wanted to sit out the match, and he did so despite chief selector Ajit Agarkar's advice against it.\n\n5. Who is Team India's ODI captain now?\nAfter Rohit retired from Test cricket, he was also removed as ODI captain, with the responsibility handed to Shubman Gill.\n\n6. Will Rohit Sharma play the 2027 ODI World Cup?\nRecent reports suggested selectors don't want to include Rohit in 2027 ODI World Cup plans, though the BCCI has dismissed that speculation.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/cricket/gautam-gambhir-ko-kocha-banavane-men-rohit-sharma-ki-thi-bari-bhumika-phira-kaise-barhi-khatasa-8569",
  "category": "Cricket",
  "publishedAt": "2026-07-18",
  "tags": [
    "Rohit Sharma",
    "Gautam Gambhir",
    "Team India",
    "BCCI",
    "Shubman Gill",
    "Ajit Agarkar",
    "Lord's ODI",
    "ODI captaincy"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}