'Gautam Gambhir is an outstanding leader' - Brendon McCullum heaps huge praise for India head coach

Suryakumar Yadav's India are all set to host England in a five-match T20I series starting January 22 at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata, with the spotlight on head coach Gautam Gambhir. Under pressure after a series of setbacks, Gambhir has found some support from England's head coach, Brendon McCullum, who praised the former cricketer’s leadership qualities ahead of the series opener.

Gambhir’s tenure as head coach so far has seen a fair share of challenges. Recent losses in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia have put his role into question. India’s defeat to New Zealand recorded their first-ever home Test series loss in 12 years, while the loss of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after nearly a decade-long dominance against Australia was another blow.

In the white-ball format, Gambhir’s team has seen success in the T20Is both at home and abroad, with only an ODI series loss to Sri Lanka being their first in 27 years. Despite these setbacks, McCullum believes Gambhir is the right man to guide India forward.

"What I will say about Gautam Gambhir is that I've worked with him before. He's an outstanding leader. He's a really strong leader of men, and in the time that he's had in any sort of leadership position he's held previously, he's been able to excel. He's only just sort of got underway with this team, but I have no doubt that he'll get the best out of the talent that he's got. And then we've (England) got to find a way to be able to counter that with our style," the England head coach said as quoted by India Today.

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McCullum confirms Jos Buttler to relinquish wicket-keeping duties to focus on captaincy

McCullum also confirmed that Jos Buttler would give up wicket-keeping duties during the T20I series to focus on captaincy from the field. The head coach revealed that Phil Salt will be behind the stumps, while Buttler will have the opportunity to speak to the bowler more often as and when he feels the need.

"The one thing he [Buttler] won't be doing in this series is keeping wicket, he's going to captain from the field. That's a positive thing for us because it gives Jos the opportunity to have the last say with the bowler and to have that relationship built at that last second instead of being 22 yards away. We've got great [wicketkeeping] options within the side. We've got a really good squad; we've got lots of flexibility within the group," the New Zealander concluded.