Rahul Dravid's mind is better than Gautam Gambhir: Basit Ali

India head coach Gautam Gambhir has had quite the start to his career as India’s head coach. Gambhir has recently come under the radar after team India’s performance in the recently concluded three-game Test series against New Zealand. 

Taking on the Black Caps at home, India failed to win a single Test match as the visitors completed a historic whitewash. Seeing India’s performance in the Test series, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali came forward and drew comparisons of Gautam Gambhir to former India head coach Rahul Dravid. 

It is worth noting that Dravid’s tenure as India's head coach ended with the side winning the T20 World Cup 2024, and according to Basit Ali, Dravid was a smarter coach than Gambhir and that he knew what kind of pitches had to be prepared for India to win at home. 

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"Rahul Dravid's mind is better than Gautam Gambhir. Dravid made pitches for four days, where the ball would turn on the last couple of days. You are now making such pitches where even someone who isn't a regular spinner is getting a lot of turns right from the first day,” Basit Ali said in a video on his YouTube channel. 

He knew the psychology of the players: Basit Ali

Furthermore, Basit Ali talked about how Radhul Dravid knew the psychology of the Indian players and let them play their game instead of forcing them to play a certain way. 

"Rahul Dravid was a good coach. He knew the psychology of the players. If you tell Virat Kohli to play T10 and T20 in Test cricket, then it's unfair,” Ali said. 

After the New Zealand whitewash, the Indian team will hope to improve with a tough tour to Australia. Rohit Sharma’s men will take on the Aussies in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Both sides will lock horns in the first Test of the series in Perth on November 22.