Gautam Gambhir vs Greg Chappell - comparing the stats of the two India coaches after 19 matches

With his stint as India's head coach in the 2000s, Australia legend Greg Chappell undid all the admiration he had garnered among Indian fans as a batter. Almost two decades after his tenure as India's head coach, Chappell continues making the headlines in the Indian cricketing universe for all the wrong reasons.

More recently, his name has been brought into discussions when former players and fans talk about current India head coach Gautam Gambhir's relationship with the players. The duo are perceived to have dominating personalities from the outside, resulting in obvious comparisons.

While Chappell's overall record as India's head coach was far from poor, his exit was unceremonious, courtesy of India's unfathomable exit before the Super Eight stage of the 2007 ODI World Cup. Meanwhile, Gambhir's tenure has begun in a tumultuous fashion, especially in the red-ball format.

Beyond the numbers, the narrative around the duo leads many to believe Gambhir might unfortunately be heading in the path of Chappell as India's head coach.

On that note, let us dive into Gambhir's first 19 matches across formats as India's coach and compare it with Chappell's record at the same point.

Gautam Gambhir's First 19 Games: Mixed white-ball and abysmal Test Results

Gambhir's coaching tenure has thus far been a disaster in red-ball cricket [Credit: Getty]

Gautam Gambhir had his task cut out as India's head coach after his predecessor Rahul Dravid helped India break their 11-year ICC title drought in his final assignment - the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Yet, Gambhir had enjoyed a 2024 season to remember until that point, helping the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pull off a dominant title run as their mentor in the IPL. As India's coach, things started smoothly for the former batter, with the side completing a 3-0 series whitewash in the T20I series in Sri Lanka.

However, a shocking 0-2 loss in the ODI series against the Lankans followed. While murmurs on Gambhir started doing the rounds, the result was largely still dismissed as an aberration.

Back-to-back 2-0 and 3-0 whitewashes of Bangladesh in the home Test and T20I series signaled a return to normalcy for the Indian cricket team. Then came the bombshells that shook Gambhir and Indian cricket.

The side lost the opening two Tests at home against New Zealand to surrender a home Test series for the first time since 2012 when England defeated them 2-1. Furthermore, the hosts suffered defeat in the series finale to be whitewashed at home for the first time in Tests since 2000.

Unfortunately for Gambhir, the downward slide had no stopping as India's Test turmoil continued with a 1-3 loss against Australia Down Under. It was their first bilateral Test series defeat to the Aussies since the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).

Beyond the losses, which are bad enough in isolation, such unwarranted streak-ending records have placed Gambhir and his coaching tenure in a hole after just the first 19 matches

Greg Chappell's First 19 Games: Solid numbers marred by off-field Controversy

Chappell became the villain among Ganguly fans immediately after becoming India's coach [Credit: Getty]

Contrary to common belief, Gregg Chappell's India coaching tenure wasn't all doom and gloom. The side got off to a rocky start under Chappell in an ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, featuring the West Indies as the third team.

While the Men in Blue could never overcome the hosts, they won both their outings against the West Indies to scrape through to the final. However, Team India suffered an 18-run defeat in the summit clash against the Lankans to finish runners-up.

Chappell's next assignment was another tri-series involving New Zealand and Zimbabwe. India split their two games against the Kiwis and won both encounters against hosts Zimbabwe to qualify for the final. The finals hoodoo continued as the Asian side lost to New Zealand by six wickets.

A 2-0 Test series win against Zimbabwe away from home was followed by a sensational 6-1 triumph in the home ODI series against Sri Lanka, capping off Chappell's first 19 matches as India's head coach.

While the results look impressive, barring the twin final defeats, the off-field controversies between Chappell and Sourav Ganguly dominated the headlines before and during the aforementioned Zimbabwean tour.

Before the tour, Chappell wanted the then-skipper Ganguly to be sacked as captain and player owing to poor batting form. However, an ugly back-and-forth between the duo saw Ganguly leaving the Zimbabwe tour and Chappell threatening to resign as India's coach.

Chappell was ultimately granted his wish as Ganguly was excluded from the Indian side for the home series against Sri Lanka, with Rahul Dravid taking over as captain. While the results remained consistently good until the disastrous 2007 ODI World Cup, Chappell's off-field incidents with the players have forever made him an antagonist among Indian cricket followers.

Comparison: Who fared better after 19 matches?

While Gambhir and Chappell both endured losses to start their India coaching careers, there is little denying that the former has fared much worse.

The below table is further evidence of the same:

After 19 overall matches as Indian head coach
Coach	Tests				ODIs				T20Is			Overall
	Won	Lost	Draw	Win %	Won	Lost	Tie	Win %	Won	Lost	Win %	Won	Lost	Draw/Tie	Win %
Greg Chappell	2	0	0	100%	11	6	0	65%				13	6	0	68%
Gautam Gambhir	3	6	1	30%	0	2	1	0%	6	0	100%	9	8	2	47%

While Gambhir's Indian side have thrived in the shortest format, the lack of T20Is during Chappell's tenure eliminates any potential for comparison.

Despite India's inability to clinch the title in back-to-back tri-series, their ODI record under Chappell during his first 19 matches is much better with a winning percentage of 65 than Gambhir's 0-2 record. The story is similar in Tests, with Chappell's 100% win percentage upstaging Gambhir's 30%, even if the difference in competition is obvious.

Although it is hard to dismiss Chappell's controversy with Ganguly in that stretch, Gambhir hasn't been deprived of the same, with numerous reports of dressing rifts doing the rounds during the recent Australian tour.

Overall, it is fair to conclude that Team India under Greg Chappell enjoyed greater success on the field than under Gambhir after their first 19 games as the head coaches.