Sourav Ganguly Warns Gautam Gambhir Of 'Real Test' Despite T20 World Cup Win

Sourav Ganguly warns Gautam Gambhir [Source: AFP, @trscricketx/x]

Team India engulfed New Zealand in the final earlier this month to clinch the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Achieving the feat just a year after bagging the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, the outcome helped former cricketer Gautam Gambhir to become the first Indian head coach in history to win two ICC trophies.

Despite enjoying unprecedented success with India’s white-ball team, Gambhir’s credentials in Test cricket remain under scrutiny. 

Fortunately for the Indian coach, former captain and ex-teammate Sourav Ganguly has offered a piece of advice on how he can approach the longer format.

Ganguly also warned Gautam Gambhir of the ‘real test’ that awaits him going forward in his tenure as India’s head coach.

Sourav Ganguly praises Gambhir, warns him of ‘real test’

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has heaped significant praise on ex-teammate Gautam Gambhir. 

The cricketer-turned-administrator stated that while Gambhir has proven himself to be a “very good coach” for India, his real test in white-ball cricket will arrive in South African conditions during the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

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Ganguly, however, remains confident of Gambhir’s team overcoming all challenges to lift the trophy. 

While speaking with MoneyControl, he said, “Gautam is a very good coach. If you remember, I said ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that you need to give the man some time. As a white-ball coach, he is very good, especially in these conditions. He has a very good team and is a very good coach. His real test in white ball is going to be in South Africa in 2027. Conditions there will test him, but I am confident he will get it right with the team he has.”

Ganguly shares an advice for struggling Gautam Gambhir in Tests

Sourav Ganguly has also offered timely advice to Gautam Gambhir in a bid to overcome Team India’s struggles in Test cricket off late. 

The former cricketer stated Gambhir should stop thinking about conditions and just play according to the merit.

He also advised the Indian coach to stop playing home Tests on turning surfaces. He added “In red ball, he needs to get better. And the way to do it is to think less about the wicket. He needs to get the wicket out of his system. Take the England series. He couldn’t do anything about the wicket, and you can see the results. He doesn’t need to play on turners at home. Good wickets will produce good results.”

Gautam Gambhir’s topsy-turvy coaching stint with Indian cricket

Compatible to Sourav Ganguly’s claims, India’s past two ICC trophies under the coaching tenure of Gautam Gambhir have both occurred in familiar subcontinental conditions. 

While Team India won the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai last year, the ‘Men in Blue’ largely played all their matches at home at the recently-concluded 2026 T20 World Cup, and thrashed New Zealand by 96 runs in a lop-sided final at Ahmedabad.

Additionally, India also won the 2025 Asia Cup in the UAE back in mid-2025, and is yet to lose a single T20I series under Gambhir regardless of playing conditions.

In Test cricket, however, the Gautam Gambhir-helmed Indian team suffered a demoralising 1-3 defeat to Australia in the away Border-Gavaskar Trophy series back in 2024-25. 

The Indian team also suffered two whitewashes at home in the space of a year, first to New Zealand in late 2024 by a 0-3 margin and then to South Africa in late 2025 by 0-2.

With India’s Test fortunes fluctuating under his tenure, Gambhir will now look to steady the red-ball unit even as the much-talked-about “real test” in the 2027 World Cup looms on the horizon.

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