Gautam Gambhir has responded to MS Dhoni’s “coach Sahab smile looks great” remark with a subtle reply after India’s back-to-back T20 World Cup victories on Sunday in Ahmedabad. Coming into the tournament as defending champions, India retained the title with a 96-run win over New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Gracing the occasion were three former India captains Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma. While Kapil brought India into the cricketing world map by leading the team to 1983 World Cup win, Rohit and Dhoni were skippers when India won in 2024 and 2007 editions of the T20 World Cup respectively. Rohit and Dhoni collectively brought the trophy on Sunday.
Post India’s win, Dhoni broke his two-year silence on Instagram, praising the Men in Blue for their third T20 World Cup title. With a picture of victorious Indian team, Dhoni wrote, “History gets created at Ahmedabad, big congratulations to the team and support staff and to all the fans of Indian Cricket Team worldwide. Such a pleasure to see all of u play.”
He made a special mention of India head coach Gambhir, who is known for his serious personality. “Coach Sahab smile looks great on u, intensity with smile is a killer combo, very well done. enjoy guys (Baare BUMRAH mein kuch na likhoon tou hi acha hai. CHAMPION BOWLER),” added Dhoni.
Gambhir replied, “And what a reason to smile, great seeing you!” Incidentally, Gambhir bailed India out in the finals of 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup with scores of 75 and 97, which helped the Men in Blue prevail. Dhoni was the India captain on both occasions.
Similarity between Gambhir & MSD
With this win, Gambhir became the most-successful Indian team head coach in the history with two ICC titles, something no one has been able to replicate before. Prior to Gambhir, India won five ICC titles under five different coaches. Before T20 World Cup 2026, Gambhir guided the Indian team to ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup titles, both in 2025.
Similarly, Dhoni is the most successful Indian captain, the country has ever produced. Under Dhoni’s leadership, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, thus making him the only captain in the world with three ICC titles.
