Gautam Gambhir vs Gary Kirsten: Comparing the coaching records of the two after 19 matches

Gautam Gambhir was appointed India's head coach after the T20 World Cup 2024, which the Men in Blue won under Rahul Dravid. The Indian team toured Sri Lanka and Australia under Gambhir in 2024/25, while they hosted Bangladesh and New Zealand.

The way India defeated Sri Lanka in a T20I series and Bangladesh in the Kanpur Test, it seemed Gautam Gambhir would bring about a never-before-seen revolution in Indian cricket. However, his side were whitewashed in the home Test series against New Zealand 0-3, followed by a 1-3 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia.

Gautam Gambhir has made some questionable and some solid calls as a coach, but the results have clearly not been in his favor. Many fans consider Gary Kirsten as India's best overseas head coach, and here's a look at the comparison of Kirsten and Gambhir's performance after 19 matches.

---

#1 Gautam Gambhir vs Gary Kirsten - Who had a better win percentage in Tests after 19 matches?

Gautam Gambhir has been India's head coach in 10 Test matches so far - two against Bangladesh, three against New Zealand and five against Australia. India have won three out of those 10 Tests, recording one draw and six defeats in the other games. Thus, Gambhir's win percentage stands at 30% in Tests.

Gary Kirsten officially started as India's head coach in March 2008, with his first assignment being the home Test series against South Africa. India drew the three-match series 1-1. After that, India toured Sri Lanka and lost 1-2.

By the time India played their next Test series, they had played 13 ODIs, so that marked the completion of Kirsten's 19 matches. India won two out of Kirsten's first six Tests in charge, meaning his win percentage was 33.33.

Score: Gambhir 0 - 1 Kirsten.

---

#2 Gautam Gambhir vs Gary Kirsten - Who had a better win percentage in white-ball games after 19 matches?

Both the white-ball formats will be considered as one in this comparison because India did not play a single T20I under Kirsten in his first 19 matches. In the first 13 ODIs under Kirsten, India recorded eight wins, but lost two crucial finals - Kitply Cup and Asia Cup. Overall, their win percentage was 61.53.

Under Gambhir, India whitewashed Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 3-0 in T20Is. In ODIs, India played a tie first-up against Sri Lanka, followed by defeats in the next two matches. India have thus won six out of their nine white-ball matches under Gambhir, resulting in a 66.67 win percentage.

Score: Gambhir 1 - 1 Kirsten.

---

#3 Gautam Gambhir vs Gary Kirsten - Who has a better overall win percentage after 19 matches?

While India's win percentage in Tests was better under Gary Kirsten, Gautam Gambhir's white-ball percentage as coach in his first 19 matches has been slightly better. To determine who had the better numbers after 19 matches, the overall win percentage needs to be considered.

Kirsten won 10 out of 19 matches, while Gambhir won nine. It is pertinent to note that Gambhir has lost eight matches so far, while Kirsten had lost eight as well. But since Kirsten's overall win percentage of 52.63 is better than Gambhir's 47.37, the former gets the point here.

Final score: Gambhir 1 - 2 Kirsten.