Reports suggest that Gautam Gambhir, the head coach of India, blamed young cricketer Sarfaraz Khan for leaking content from the Indian dressing room during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, though Khan was not given a single Test in that series despite having scored a 150 in the previous series- the home white-wash against New Zealand.
A reputed channel claims Gambhir made the complaint during the review meeting of tours to Australia, organized by the BCCI, held in Mumbai, that Khan leaked information regarding the head coach’s furious speech to the team after a bad loss to Australia in the final Test of the series, which was played at MCG.
The report further revealed that it could complicate the career of Gambhir, too, in the future.
Speaking to the pre-match press conference before the Sydney Test, Gambhir had highlighted the importance of honesty and expressed his anger regarding the reports.
“Debates with the coach should remain in the dressing room. They were stern words. They were mere reports that were not true,” Gambhir said.
Mentioned in the statement is how cricket offers those honest people to get a place in the dressing room. When there is an honest approach inside the dressing room, Indian cricket is going to be in safe hands. When you are talking about it, you are performing. When it comes to honesty, that is the only thing concerning basically the conjecture about what is going on; the team comes first. Etc., one, you can play your game in a team game. But when India depends on you, you need to play in a certain style,” said the coach.
After the Sydney Test, The Indian Express reported that Gambhir reportedly lost his cool with the team, saying, ‘Bahut ho gaya’ (So much for everything), presumably most furious at the batters for being less situational and being more natural instead of applying those game plans established in the team dressing room.
That same report had stated that the atmosphere in the Indian dressing room could not be further from the ideal, with a lot of big personalities clashing in the dressing room.
It also spiraled into a string of dressing-room leaks in the days to come, which gained more traction as India lost in Sydney as well, thus conceding the series at 3-1. Gambhir, along with skipper Rohit Sharma, is still under pressure for the performance of team India in the last six months before them.
The team has its next assignment lined up by way of the white-ball series against England and a possible appearance in the 2025 Champions Trophy.