India were crowned T20 World Cup champions last month, with Rahul Dravid bowing out of his time in charge on a high.
Dravid was head coach for two-and-a-half years, leading them to the finals of a world event in each of the three formats.
Gambhir's tenure begins on July 27 with India's white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, as the 42-year-old steps into his first head coaching job, having previously worked as a mentor for Indian Premier League sides, Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants.
Gambhir admitted he did not want to make too many changes given India's recent success and believes the key to that is to start by building trust.
"It is very simple," Gambhir said in his first interview as head coach, "it is important to give players freedom - that's what I believe in - and not have a relationship of a head coach and a player.
"The best relationship is one built on trust. The most important thing is they'll always have my backing.
"I don't complicate too many things. I am taking over a very, very successful team - India are T20 world champions, have been runners-up in the World Test Championship and the 50-overs World Cup."
As a player, Gambhir enjoyed a 13-year career which saw him win the World Cup in 2007 and 2011.
Despite not having a lot of coaching experience behind him, Gambhir knows what it takes to win in big moments.
"My learning has been simple - it has been all about winning," he added.
"I don't deviate from something. We are in a profession where there can be only one winner. We try and play fair, we try and play hard, and try and come back in a winning dressing room and a happy dressing room.
"A happy dressing room is a winning dressing room. Ultimately, it is the players' team. The support staff is there to try and get the maximum out of their potential.
"Sometimes international cricket can be tough, it can be insecure as well, because only 15 can be picked. It is the job of support staff to keep them happy."
India's T20I series begins on July 27 in Pallekele.
After losing their opener to Zimbabwe in their first game after the World Cup, India made no mistake in Kandy as they took a 1-0 lead in this three-game series, piling misery on their hosts.
India made a strong start through openers Yashavi Jaiswal (40) and Shubman Gill (34) before Suryakumar Yadav's 58 carried them to 150 before he was dismissed.
Rishabh Pant fell just short of a half-century as he helped India's charge, though that soon stalled thanks to Matheesha Pathirana, whose impressive performance saw him finish with 4-40.
With India stopped at 213-7, Sri Lanka made a steady start, with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis combining for 84 before the latter was caught for 45.
Two quick wickets from Axar Patel in the 15th over soon ended any hopes of Sri Lanka coming out on top, though, as Nissanka (79) and Kusal Perera (20) were both taken.
The hosts soon collapsed, losing their last seven wickets in just over four overs as they were bowled out for 170.
Data Debrief: India go from strength to strength
Gambhir could not have asked for a better performance at the start of his tenure with India, with their late performance in the field proving vital.
Just when Sri Lanka looked to be mounting a real attack to chase down the target of 214, they lost nine wickets from their final 5.2 overs to be bowled out well short of their target, with Patal and Arshdeep Singh both getting two wickets each.
The hosts' first game since their disappointing World Cup campaign did not quite go to plan, and they will be looking to bounce back on Sunday.
Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL’s history after Punjab Kings bought him for 18.50 crore. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes and Cameron Green also went big.
One surprising pick that went for big money was West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran. Lucknow Super Giants spent 16 crore (US$ 2 million) on the 27-year-old, which left many shocked.
Pooran has had his moments of fame in the IPL, but his overall stats are disappointing, which is why the fans felt that Pooran has been overpaid by the KL Rahul-led franchise.
In 47 matches in his IPL career, Pooran has scored just 912 runs, including four fifty-plus scores.
LSG’s global mentor, Gautam Gambhir, responded to the trolls and criticism for Pooran and justified the big spending on the Caribbean star.
Gambhir said that he does not judge a player by last year’s performance but looks at its impact on the game.
“I do not look at the last season. I look at a player’s ability and impact. Pooran can win us 2-3 matches, and with age on his side, we wanted him to build the team around him.”
Gambhir took an indirect dig on old-school players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who score fifty-plus runs but at an underwhelming strike rate.
“The tournament is not about scoring 500-600 runs in a season. It is about winning matches by scoring impactful runs.”
Gambhir has returned to the IPL franchise as a mentor for the 2024 IPL season.
KKR on Sunday retained Russell and Narine along with Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Venkatesh Iyer.
Russell joined KKR in 2014, while Narine joined in 2012 and both have been mainstays in the team since then.
“They both have been phenomenal cricketers for KKR. I feel that Gambhir has been quite pivotal in the retention of Russell and Narine. Gambhir understands them, he’s played with them, he’s captained them and he’ll be able to get the best out of them,” said Moody to ESPNCricinfo.
However, Moody also revealed their hesitation regarding Russell’s physical condition instead of his performance. Russell scored 227 runs in 14 matches while picking seven wickets for KKR in IPL 2023.
“I think we’ll see a different outcome in 2024 with regards to what Russell brings to the table. The only hesitation I have is not skill. It’s whether he can hold together physically because we’ve seen him break down on a couple of occasions over recent years and it’s been quite alarming. His bowling has been pretty limited as well, and they haven’t had the access to his full quota of overs,” Moody added.
The Kings won the toss and chose to field first, quickly regretting that decision when the Capitals got off to a magnificent start with the bat.
After losing South African Hashim Amla early for 3, former India opener Gautam Gambhir and former West Indies batsman Kirk Edwards put on 107 for the second wicket before Gambhir fell for a 35-ball 63 in the 11th over.
Edwards went on to make the next highest score in the innings with 59 off 31 balls while Ben Dunk (37) and Ashley Nurse (34) also made solid contributions as the Capitals got what they thought would be a match-winning total of 228-8 off their 20 overs.
Anureet Singh took 4-29 from his four overs for the Kings.
Bhilwara’s opening pair of Lendl Simmons and Solomon Mire then put on only 22 for the first wicket before Simmons was first to go for 11.
It was quickly 27-2 when Tillakaratne Dilshan went for just one.
Mire and new batsman Robin Bist then put on 67 for the third wicket before Bist went in the 11th over for 30 leaving the Kings 94-3.
Mire was next to go, 40 runs and three overs later for a well-made top score of 70 from 40 balls including nine fours and three sixes.
Eventually, the Kings were 186-7 in the 18th over before captain Irfan Pathan performed a miracle to help them get over the line at 229-7 in 19.2 overs.
Pathan made 65* off just 19 balls including one four and nine sixes.
Isuru Udana took 3-51 from his four overs for the Capitals.
Full Scores
India Capitals 228-8 off 20 overs (Gautam Gambhir 65, Kirk Edwards 59, Ben Funk 37, Ashley Nurse 34, Anureet Singh 4-29)
Bhilwara Kings 229-7 off 19.2 overs (Solomon Mire 70, Irfan Pathan 65*, Robin Bist 30, Christopher Barnwell 22, Isuru Udana 3-51, Rusty Theron 2-33)
