lauded Gambhir and said he is a very good coach in white-ball cricket, but added that he needs to get better in Tests. Ganguly said that Gambhir should get the wickets out of his system, adding that India don't need turning tracks at home, and the team can win on good wickets, citing India's results in England.

Ganguly further added that Gambhir's real test in white-ball cricket will be the World Cup in South Africa, as the conditions will be different from what India are comfortable in. Ganguly, however, was optimistic that Gambhir would do well in the World Cup, given the quality he has in team India.

"Gautam is a very good coach. If you remember, I said on your platform ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that you need to give the man some time. You can show him the clip when he comes to your conclave. As a white ball coach he is very good, especially in these conditions. He has a very good team and is a very good coach.

" In red ball he needs to get better. And the way to do it is to think less about the wicket. He needs to get the wicket out of his system. Take the England series. He couldn't do anything about the wicket and you can see the results. He doesn't need to play on turners at home. Good wickets will produce good results. Also, his real test in white ball is going to be in South Africa in 2027. Conditions there will test him but I am confident he will get it right with the team he has," Ganguly told Boria Majumdar in an exclusive interview to Money Control.

Stiff Challenge Awaits Gautam Gambhir

Ganguly was spot on when he said that the ODI World Cup would present a different challenge for Gambhir and team India because India's T20 team is well and truly above all in terms of skills, but in In ODIs, the team still has scope of improvement, especially in the bowling as barring Jasprit Bumrah and a bit of Mohammed Siraj, the team lacks genuine match winners, something Gambhir would have to look at in the months to come.

Also, the batting depth remains a cause for worry for India. Ravindra Jadeja hasn't been the force he used to be for a while, while Hardik Pandya is not certain to play ODIs. The top order is heavy with Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul, but plenty of work needs to be done in the lower order and the bowling department, and that will be the real challenge for Gambhir.