New Delhi: As his side basks in the triumph of the T20 World Cup, Indian Head Coach Gautam Gambhir has lauded the role played by ICC Chairman and former BCCI Secretary Jay Shah in taking Indian Cricket forward and revealed the role played by Shah in getting him on board as head coach.

Gambhir had taken up the Head Coach role following his triumph with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as a mentor.

Speaking to ANI, Gambhir recalled how, before his side’s IPL clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI) that season in Mumbai, Jay Shah rang him up early in the morning with an offer he “could not say no to”. The former India star revealed that, in fact, he felt he was not ready to be the coach at that point, despite having mentored Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and KKR.

“We were playing an IPL game in Mumbai. KKR vs MI and it was Jay Shah who called me. He actually called me early in the morning. He said that I have to give you an offer and you cannot say no to me. I said, what? He said, you have to be the head coach (of Team India). And at that time, honestly, I was not even ready. It was a massive surprise for me. I think being the head coach of the Indian team is an honour. It is a privilege because not many people get that opportunity to go back in the dressing room and wear that India jersey again and do something special for the country,” recalled Gambhir.

Gambhir said that later he spoke to his family regarding the gig, including his wife, Natasha. He also thanked Shah for trusting him with such a high-profile job despite no prior proper experience as a Test team coach and for sticking with him through the lows like Test series whitewashes at home against New Zealand (2024) and South Africa (last year).

The former batter revealed that when Team India lost the Test series to NZ and ended their 12-year-long unbeaten run at home, it was Jay Shah who encouraged him to “stay strong.”

“He told me, you cannot say no (to the India head coach gig). And then obviously I spoke to family, I spoke to Natasha, but hats off to him. I thanked him even during the press conference (following the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand), actually, I realised this, that when I was offered this job, I had no experience of being a head coach because I have never been a head coach of any team or any franchise. I was always the mentor. but trusting me with that job and that high-pressure job and that high-profile job. So hopefully till now, I think I am able to live up to his expectations and I cannot thank him enough because anytime you get this opportunity to do something special for the country,” he said.

“I think I have gone through a lot of low moments in my tenure as well, which was always expected because, whether it was getting beaten by New Zealand at home or getting beaten by South Africa at home, which I normally do not forget, not many people actually called me after that. I remember the only time someone called me was Jay Shah. Because I remember when we lost a game against New Zealand in Mumbai, i was going back to the airport and I got a call from him. And obviously, he told me to stay strong. He told me that he’s there with me during that hour,” he added

Gambhir said that the ICC Chairman was in his corner during testing times and his support helped him with his job as coach. 

“And then even after South Africa, he was the one who called me. I was at the airport and I was actually very low and down. And you know… you do not remember people when your things are going well. But when you are going through a tough phase, at that time, if someone calls you and supports you at that time, I think that is something that I will always appreciate even when I won’t be the head coach of the team,” he said.

Speaking on the influence of Jay Shah on Indian and global cricket, first as a BCCI secretary from 2019-2024 and later as the ICC chair, Gambhir pointed out how he transformed women’s cricket in India by giving them better pay and more lucrative contracts and making impactful infrastructure changes in the men’s cricket scene too.

“He has had a massive, massive contribution not because we are talking about it right now, but the fact is, if you see when he was the BCCI secretary, the way he has transformed women’s cricket in India, you’ve got to give it to the man. Take a look at the salaries of women cricketers. Take a look at their contracts. Take a look at the transition that has happened in women’s cricket. Take a look at the WPL (Women’s Premier League),” he said.

“In fact, if you talk about men’s cricket too, all the facilities that players get now, like the infrastructure has changed. I think you have to give it to Jay Shah. I think that man deserves so much of credit and second most important thing, now being the ICC chairman, I think, including cricket in the Olympics (in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics for the first time after 1900) is a massive, massive step. So I think he does deserve a lot of credit for what he has done as an administrator,” he added.

Gambhir said that Jay Shah’s “heart is in the right place” and is passionate about Indian cricket’s progress.

“You could see it because you cannot hide a person’s reactions. When Indian Cricket does well, I think he is probably one of the happiest guys going around,” he concluded.