A defeat in a series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand has caused a lot of stress on Gautam Gambhir who has not been a coach for so long. His appointment was very extravagant, he even enjoyed a special invite to the selection committee sitting on the Australia tour. However, the way it stands at the moment, does not seem to augur well for the former opener of the Indian cricket team. If there are no changes by the time the team returns from the Australia tour, Gambhir who was practically allowed to pick the players may not be as forthcoming on team matters in the future.
Gambhir was appointed as the coach for the first time in 27 years that Indian men’s team , lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka, and completed a historic 3-0 whitewashed as New Zealand also brought down Gc India in their backyard, another first in a long cricketing history.
Surely the coach cannot do much more than what he has already accomplished but there have been queries about the common sense that was absent when en going for a rank turner in Mumbai when it is clear that the top order has notoriously struggled for the last six or seven years against world class spinners on turning pitches.
Even Gambhir’s ‘Play it Exactly the Same Way, Though it is raining or sunny’ out view has also proven too difficult for even cricket’s hardcore enthusiasts in India to comprehend.
Allowing pacer Mohammed Siraj to go out as night-watchman on the second evening of the third Test against New Zealand played in Mumbai, andy Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings has been some of the tactical decisions however the very same are being raised and questioned by everyone.
Gautam Gambhir was afforded the sort of privileges that seemed impossible for the likes of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. According to the BCCI rule book, coaches are not allowed in the selection committee meetings, but in the case of the Australia tour, the rule was bent.
“From what I know, the head coach was given dispensation for the tour meeting because of the significance of the tour,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
The reasons why at least two players – Harshit Rana of Delhi and KKR, and Nitish Reddy of Andhra and SRH, found their place in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) squad is attributed to the head coach.
Not to forget the fact that, in between all of this, Rana hardly put on display any white ball game with Sri Lanka or within the borders of the home series against Bangladesh. With that, it was being said that he was let go before the very last match due to illness, yet a week later, he was back in India’s nets in Bengaluru, practicing his bowling. Then came about a few good matches with Assam in the Ranji Trophy.
There also existed a school of thought that believed the better option for Rana, instead of sitting out the Ranji Trophy, would be going to Australia with the India A team because even one or two first class games in the bouncy pitches there preceding the Test series would help him get the correct length.
Instead, they made him a net bowler for the recently concluded Test series, which had two turning tracks out of the three.
As for Reddy, he suffered an injury while hooking a bouncer in the ‘A’ match and there have also been fears about his bowling, which is definitely not good enough to be in the top five bowlers.
Left-handed batsman Reddy’s skills in T20 cricket, particularly impressed Gambhir who believed that he would be the perfect man to replace Hardik Pandya as the bowling all-rounder.
The series against Australia will be a true test of Gambhir’s leadership abilities as he may have to play the bad cop and put some senior players in their place, all while being monitored by the board from a distance.
The delhi man in question has also come under scrutiny due to the clean sweep.
