Former India head coach Ravi Shastri thinks Gautam Gambhir will bring in “fresh ideas” and his “no-nonsense” approach will fetch the team success.

Gambhir’s stint begins on Saturday when India open their Sri Lanka tour with a T20I in Pallekele.

“We know with Gautam, he’s a no-nonsense guy,” Shastri said on the ICC Review. “He’ll have his ideas as well. And the good thing for him is he’s got a mature team. He’s got a settled team... Even though you might think you’re mature, you might benefit from some fresh ideas. So it’ll be interesting times.”

The two-time IPL-winning captain helped his former franchise KKR to their third title in May this year.

“He’s contemporary, he just had a great season in the IPL. I think he’s the right age where he’s young, he’ll come with fresh ideas. He knows most of the players, especially in the white-ball format, having been part of teams in the IPL. So I think it’s refreshing,” Shastri said.

Gambhir’s predecessor, Rahul Dravid, earned a lot of praise for being able to nurture some of the youngsters during his time as head coach between 2021 and 2024.

“Obviously, player management becomes the key as a coach,” Shastri said. “So it’ll be interesting to see how he goes. I think he’s got the tools, he’s got the goods for the job and he’s got the experience. It’s a question of just understanding his players as quickly as possible...

“What their strengths are, what kind of human beings they are and what kind of temperaments do they have... What are their personalities. A lot goes behind the scenes to understand a human being.

“I think that will be his most important task, which I think again should not be a problem because he’s contemporary.

“He’s seen these guys from the outside, he’s dealt with a lot of the guys.”