“An emotional coach is not a good thing to have” - AB de Villiers opens up on Gautam Gambhir after India’s whitewash to South Africa

Former South African dashing batter AB de Villiers has opened up on the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir's coaching style after India suffered a 0-2 whitewash in the two-match Test series against South Africa at home.

Interestingly, this was India's second consecutive Test series whitewash at home to a SENA nation after earlier losing to New Zealand by 0-3 last year. Speaking on Ravi Ashwin's YouTube channel, the former dashing batter has asserted that while Gambhir was an emotional player, he isn't sure about Gambhir’s leadership skills as a coach.

“I don’t know what GG is like when it comes to leadership. I’ve known him as an emotional player, and if that is the case in the change room, generally, an emotional coach is not a good thing to have. But it’s not to say he’s that kind of a coach and the kind of leader behind the scenes. There’s no right and wrong. Some players will feel comfortable with a former player. Some players will be comfortable with a coach that’s never played the game before, but he’s got a lot of years of experience coaching the game,” AB de Villiers said on Ravi Ashwin’s YouTube channel.

“It’s a tough question because I’ve never played under Shukri and I’ve never been in the Indian dressing room with GG, Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate. It looks great on paper, but I don’t know what the dynamic is like behind the scenes. What I can say is it is different for every player,” he added.

“I absolutely love playing under Gary Kirsten; he’s a former player and similar to Gautam Gambhir. Some players might find confidence and feel comfortable with a former player being there, a great of the game and find some extra inspiration to put extra yards for the team and for the coach,” he concluded.

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