Live Update: ‘Selflessness is the first quality of a good leader’ – Gautam Gambhir on Shreyas Iyers post The Indian head coach has assessed the camp’s willingness to sacrifice the batting position for team strategy ahead of West Indies’ T20I series.
Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer (Photo: BCCI) Shreyas Iyer led India to a 19-run win over Pakistan in the gold medal match in men’s cricket at the 2026 Asian Games in Nisshin on Saturday, October 3. This triumph enabled India to retain their gold medal in the event. Iyer and his team are now preparing for a five-match T20I series against the West Indies starting on Tuesday, October 6.
Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, assessed Iyer’s safety ahead of the upcoming series. Gambhir and Iyer developed a close working relationship during the 2024 IPL season when Gambhir served as a mentor at the Kolkata Knight Riders while Iyer owned the franchise. Together they led KKR to their third IPL title this year.
Gambhir explained what impressed him most about Iyer’s proach to security during their time together at KKR. The head coach admitted that few players, particularly those who are among their team’s key batsmen, would willingly adjust their batting order for tactical reasons. This flexibility demonstrated a commitment to team success rather than personal statistics.
“My first experience with Shreyas was in 2024 when I went to KKR where he was obviously based. And the best thing I liked about Shreyas was that he was willing to give up his batting stance at times. He was so flexible that he had no problem with someone walking ahead of him.
And it’s very rare that a player, who is probably also your main batsman, sacrifices his position for the cause of the team, be it for someone else because of batting power or from a left-right combination perspective,” Gambhir said on JioStar’s ‘Follow the Blues’. “And that’s when I realized that the first quality of a good leader is selflessness. Shreyas has this trait and it is a great trait that he can carry for the rest of his journey as a clan.
Because you can work hard, you can be disciplined, you can be fit, you can be the number one hitter. But if you are not selfless, then all these other things are worthless. But Shreyas has all these things and more than that, he also has this selflessness,” he added.
Gambhir’s assessment emphasized that altruism forms the foundation of effective mastery and goes beyond technical skills and fitness levels. According to the head coach, a particular group’s willingness to subordinate personal interests to team goals is what separates good leaders from exceonal ones. Also Read: Hanuma Vihari urges India to recall Bhuvneshwar and Shami after bowling match against West Indies. India’s recent ODI series against the West Indies ended with the home team winning two of the three matches and the T20I series will further test Iyer’s skills as India look to maintain their winning momentum against the Caribbean side.
