'What I feel at times is that the way he is aggressive as a captain, you can't be as a coach. You are managing different individuals. Once you let them out in the park, you trust them to do the job.'
Former wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik believes India head coach Gautam Gambhir is tactically 'very good', but feels man-management remains an area he would need to work on.
While Gambhir extended India's dominance in limited-overs cricket, the team has struggled under him in the Test format, with successive series defeats against New Zealand and Australia.
India suffered a humiliating 0-3 series whitewash against New Zealand at home before they were beaten 1-3 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia -- a result that saw them miss out on a spot in the 2025 World Test Championship final.
Karthik said that although Gambhir backs his players, he can't afford to be as aggressive as a coach as he was during his playing days.
"Tactically, Gauti (Gautam Gambhir) is a very good coach. Man management is the area that I am sure he would be looking at. But one thing about him is that he is looking out for his players which is massive."
"What I feel at times is that the way he is aggressive as a captain, you can't be as a coach. You are managing different individuals. Once you let them out in the park, you trust them to do the job. That is the challenge," Karthik said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
Gambhir, who had to fly back to India to attend to his mother after she suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a hospital, will join the Indian squad on Tuesday.
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