New Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, who succeeded Rahul Dravid to take over the coaching duties, is just days away from launching himself into action. Gambhir’s first assignment as head coach will be the white-ball series against Sri Lanka that will begin from July 27 with the first T20I match of the three-match series. The tour also involves a three-match ODI series. 

Gambhir, over the past few years, has had few on-field tussles with batting superstar Virat Kohli, but Gambhir has said that he shares a cordial relationship with Kohli and both are mature individuals. Last year at the IPL, both Kohli and Gambhir had got involved into a heated altercation and had to be pacified by the teammates from both sides. Gambhir was the mentor at Lucknow Super Giants at that time. Adressing his first press conference, Gambhir maintained that their (Kohli & Gambhir) goal is to take the team to success.

"Good for the TRP, but my relationship is not public. What kind of relationship do I share with Virat Kohli, I think it is between two mature individuals. On the field, everyone has got the right to fight for their own team, for their own jersey, and want to come back in a winning dressing room. But, at the moment, I think you are representing India and representing 140 crore Indians and I am sure we are going to be on the same page and try and make India proud,” Gambhir said during his first press conference on Monday.

"I share a very good relationship off the field and we will continue to do that. But yes, to make it more public what kind of a relationship, I think it is between two individuals."

“It’s not important what we discuss. How many chats have I had with him, after my announcement or before my announcement, during the games, after the games… I think sometimes just because we want headlines, it is not important. The most important thing right now is that we both have got to be working extremely hard to make India proud. And that is our job.”

"He is a thorough professional, he is a world-class athlete, he is a world-class player. I have always said that. I have huge respect for him as a player and it is going to continue. And hopefully we can work together really well."