England Coach Brendon McCullum's Firm Take On Under-Fire Gautam Gambhir's Coaching

Credited with introducing the ultra-aggressive 'Bazball' brand of batting, England coach Brendon McCullum aims to "play very watchful style of cricket" in the limited overs series against Gautam Gambhir's India. While McCullum has been credited extensively for revolutionising England's red-ball cricket, his counterpart Gambhir has been in the line of fire over the last few months, owing to a poor run of results. While recent results a different story, McCullum still rates Gambhir extremely high as a 'leader', having worked with him in the past.

"What I will say about Gautam Gambhir is I've worked with him before and he's an outstanding leader. He's a really strong leader of men and in the time that he's had in any sort of leadership positions which he's held previously, he's been able to excel I'm sure," McCullum said ahead of the first T20I.

"He's only just sort of got underway with this team but there's no doubt that he'll be the best out of the talent that he's got and we've got to find a way to be able to counter that with our style," McCullum added.

The upcoming assignment against India will be McCullum's first in white-ball cricket, having coached the Test team with plenty of success since May 2022.

"I know it's going to be a tough tour, taking on a very good Indian side, but I'm sure we'll play what I hope is a very watchful style of cricket," McCullum told reporters here.

The tour begins with the first of the five-match T20I series at Eden Gardens on Wednesday, followed by three one-day internationals.

"It's great, actually. That's really exciting, I think. Obviously, we've known for a couple of months this was going to unfold, and it's been great." The ODI series is seen as dress rehearsal for both teams ahead