Team India coach Gautam Gambhir hit out at toxic social media, stating a key to the T20 World Cup win was shielding the squad from "outside noise." He said players need freedom to fail without fear of external expectations and online criticism.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has hit out at the "toxic" culture of social media, labelling it as a place that gives way for false narratives driven by "views and likes." Contrasting the current era with his own playing days, Gambhir revealed that a cornerstone of India's recent T20 World Cup-winning campaign was a deliberate effort to protect the squad from "outside noise" and to allow players the freedom to fail without fear of external expectation.
Gambhir continued to build a hefty resume in white-ball cricket with the T20 World Cup 2026 title win by beating New Zealand by 96 runs at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Gambhir, now has titles at the Champions Trophy 2025, Asia Cup 2025 the T20 World Cup alongside an Indian Premier League (IPL) title with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as a mentor. Having won the T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup, the Asia Cup and IPL during his playing days, the Delhi-born has carved out quite a heavy list of accomplishments for himself.
Shielding players from 'outside noise'
Speaking to ANI, Gautam Gambhir said that one of the key reasons behind India's successful campaign at the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was keeping players away from social media and outside distractions. He explained that the team intentionally reduced "outside noise" during the tournament, especially the pressure created by public expectations and online criticism. He also said that social media has become toxic and often spreads negativity.
"One of the most important things, even during this campaign, which we had during the World Cup, was how much we cut the outside noise. Because there was so much of talk about expectations. So much of outside noise. So I think it was very important for me and I think it was very important for the boys to be away from social media and glad they were able to do that for the last one month," he said.
Gambhir added that players are human and naturally make mistakes, so it was important for him as coach to shield them from criticism as much as possible. He said that by staying away from social media, the players were able to focus better on their performance.
"You see how much social media criticism there is, you can try as much as you want that outside noise is blocked but it is humanly not possible in today's times. Social media has become so toxic. Players are humans as well. They are allowed to make mistakes. They are bound to make mistakes. Mistakes are normal in life. For me, as a shield, as far as I can keep them away from that criticism, I think that was very important," Gambhir said.
'Accountable to players, not social media'
The Indian Head Coach further said that he does not feel accountable to opinions on social media, but rather to his players and genuine cricket fans. Gambhir emphasised that his responsibility is toward supporters who care about the game, not those driven by views and outside interests. He added that if he makes a mistake, he will be the first to admit it, stressing that making mistakes is a natural part of life and something everyone should be allowed to do.
"I am not accountable to what people say on social media. I am accountable to my players. I am accountable to a common normal fan. Who neither cares about views nor TRPs or their western interest in Indian cricket. I am only accountable to them. And if I am accountable to them, I will be the first one to put my hand up and say that yes, I have made a mistake. And everyone should be allowed to make mistakes. I have made mistakes. I might make mistakes in future as well," Gambhir said.
"I'm not going to say that I will not make mistakes. Yeah, I will make mistakes. A bad decision with the right intention is acceptable. A wrong decision with the wrong intention is not acceptable. I will make wrong decisions. I will make the right decisions. It's a sport. It's not like, tell me one person who will make all the right decisions in sport. And in future also, I will. There are certain decisions which will go the other way. But the intention will never be compromised," he further said.
Gambhir said his role as coach is not to prove critics wrong but to support and protect his players. He stressed that his main responsibility is to the players in the dressing room, whom he aims to back like a shield while maintaining trust and faith in them. Gambhir added that he works with complete honesty and without any agenda, and as long as he remains truthful to his players and the country, he can accept any result that comes during his tenure.
"My job is not to prove my critics wrong. My job is to prove my players right. That is my job. I look at things from a very different angle because I have never looked at my job as proving something to someone. I have to prove to my players that I'm the one who's going to be like a shield to them and more importantly, I need to have faith and trust in my players and I've said it during my press conferences as well," Gambhir said.
"The only accountability that I have till I have this tenure is towards those 30 people sitting in that dressing room. If I can work with them with honesty, I can talk with them with honesty. I don't walk with any agenda and I walk in a completely black and white manner, so whatever result I get, I can live with that result for the rest of my life. So, in the last one and a half to two years, whatever my tenure, whatever I have achieved, whatever downfalls I have seen, I think one thing I can be very proud of is that I have been extremely, extremely honest to people sitting in that dressing room and more importantly, to this country." the Team India head coach added.
Modern pressures amplified by social media
Comparing his playing days with the current scenario, Gambhir said modern players face far more pressure than his generation because of social media. He noted that while criticism existed during his playing days, it mainly came from print and electronic media, whereas today, online platforms can quickly create false narratives. Gambhir added that many critics and YouTubers focus on negativity to gain views and likes, which can unfairly target players. Because of this, he believes it is important to protect cricketers from social media noise and allow them the space to make mistakes and learn while representing the country.
"I was very fortunate that when I was playing, there was no social media. Yes, there used to be a lot of criticism at that time, but it was a lot in print and electronically. But in today's day and age, I think these boys go through a lot more than what we went through when I was playing. So it is very important for someone to protect them and keep them away from social media as well. Because, see, the problem in social media is that tomorrow you can create a narrative against anyone by doing anything. And the reality is not that. Before this, in our time, whatever was said, there was some truth in it. But today, whether you take social media or critics, or YouTubers, who only work for views and likes, they have to say negative things to gain views," he said.
"But that is not right because you have to put yourself in the shoes of the players who are sitting in the dressing room, who are representing the whole country. It is very important to see and talk. Let them be allowed to make mistakes," Gambhir added.
Gambhir defends Arshdeep's on-field aggression
Gautam Gambhir also spoke about the on-field incident between Arshdeep Singh and Daryl Mitchell during the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup final. In the 11th over of New Zealand's innings, after Mitchell struck Arshdeep for two consecutive sixes, the Indian pacer fielded the ball and threw it back toward the batter, with the throw hitting Mitchell on the pads. Despite Arshdeep apologising to Mitchell following the match, the Indian pacer was fined 15% of his match fee for a Level 1 breach of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct due to the incident.
Defending Arshdeep, Gambhir pointed out that similar incidents happened frequently in the past, but today, social media tends to exaggerate and escalate them. Gambhir added that players show aggression because they are representing their country and want to win, and this competitive spirit should be understood rather than criticised.
"That is okay. You're representing your country. You're bound to show aggression. There's nothing wrong with that. No bowler likes to get hit for two sixes. And that is the kind of response I want to see from my players. And that there is nothing wrong. Or in fact, even if sorry is not said, I was absolutely fine with it. I was absolutely fine. He doesn't need to say sorry. Yes, it's good on him that he apologised. But on a cricket field, there are no friends. Neither are there any enemies," Gambhir said.
"Your job is to represent your country. Your job is to win a game of cricket for your country. And you don't want to get hit for two sixes. And that was fine. I thought we should not blow all these things out of proportion because these things used to happen before. Today, because of social media, things escalate a lot," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)