Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has described India head coach Gautam Gambhir as a ‘villain in the story’ for opponents, while praising his leadership qualities and impact on Indian cricket.Gautam Gambhir’s contribution for the Indian cricket is highly recognized by former South African skipper Faf du Plessis, Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles as a captain and another one in 2024 as their mentor. For the Indian cricket team, he won both T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup in 2011. During his tenure as coach, India won the Champions Trophy in 2025 and T20 World Cup in 2026. Du Plessis praised Gambhir for not caring about what people though about him and concentrates on maintaining high standards.
‘Villain’ for Rivals, Leader for His Team
Speaking on JioStar, du Plessis admitted that Gambhir’s on-field persona makes him a tough competitor to face, but one that commands respect.“My perspective of Gambhir is obviously very different from the guys that have played with him. He is always the villain in the story when it comes to playing against him. But, you respect that. He is so competitive. He doesn’t worry for one second to be liked by anyone,” he said.“His job as a leader is to set high standards and have accountability within the dressing room. And that is what good leaders do. You look from the outside, if you are a leader or a guy that plays against him, you want to beat him, because of the way he carries on as the opposition. But, you respect the fact he has set such high standards,” he added.Du Plessis went on to point out that Gambhir sets a standard for any team that he takes charge of and hailed the ex-India star as a ‘good leader’ for the way he transformed KKR into a strong side. “You can see it in the way he talks to the team, he sets a standard and believes if you drop in your stand, I will be on your case. That’s what good leaders do,” said du Plessis. “They don’t slip in those standards. He has created that since his playing days, if you look at his record, you have to take your hat off and say, from a leadership perspective, KKR with him, was a stronger side,” Du Plessis said.
Gambhir’s Stint as Head Coach of Indian Cricket Team
Since his appointment as India’s head coach in July 2024, Gautam Gambhir has overseen a period of historic achievements in limited-overs cricket but significant struggles in Test matches. Achievement as coach Gambhir led India to their third title, defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at Ahmedabad. Under his guidance, India became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title. He guided India to victory in Dubai, defeating New Zealand by 4 wickets in the final. This ended a 12-year gap since India’s last Champions Trophy success. Secured India’s ninth Asia Cup title by defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets in the final held in the UAE.Poor record as coachUnder Gambhir, India suffered historic home series whitewashes against New Zealand (0-3 in 2024) and South Africa (0-2 in 2025). India lost the 2024-25 series to Australia 1-4, failing to qualify for the World Test Championship final for the first time.
