There was a lot of hype and chatter when Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. The former left-hander was coming on the back of a successful IPL season. However, he has not had the best of starts and things are looking tough.
He was the mentor for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and played a crucial role in helping them lift their third IPL title. With Rahul Dravid finishing his stint, Gambhir was roped in. However, since the 43-year-old has taken over, India have not had a great run, especially in the longer formats.
After beating Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series, they lost the ODI rubber 0-2. The first game was tied before the Rohit Sharma-led team lost the last two games of the 50-over format. It was India’s first defeat to Sri Lanka in an ODI series since 1997.
In Test cricket, India started well under Gambhir as they thrashed Bangladesh 2-0. However, things turned and India lost their first Test series at home in 12 years. In fact, New Zealand blanked them 3-0. It was India’s first-ever Test series whitewash at home (in a series of 3 or more Tests).
The series drubbing against New Zealand has put India’s chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in severe doubt. They need to win four out of the five Tests in Australia.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia is believed to be Gambhir’s big Test. According to Dainik Jagran, there are reports that Gambhir may well end up losing his job as the head coach if India don’t do well in Australia. The top officials from the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) may not take a loss in Australia well.
It is being reported that if India lose or fail to impress down under, Gambhir may be axed as the head coach of the Test team. He could only retain the job in the white-ball setup. Someone like VVS Laxman might be offered the role in red-ball cricket.
Gambhir, Rohit, Agarkar involved in a six-hour meeting with BCCI
There are also reports that coach Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma have not been on the same page on a few key issues. Hence, Gambhir along with Rohit and chief selector Ajit Agarkar were grilled by the BCCI in a meeting that went on for six hours.
“A six-hour marathon meeting was held. It was obviously on cards after such a debacle. India are going on a tour of Australia, and the BCCI would obviously like to ensure that the team is back on track and would like to know how the think-tank (Gambhir-Rohit-Agarkar) are going about it,” a senior BCCI official was quoted saying to PTI.
India’s next Test assignment which is the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts on the 22nd of November in Perth. That will be a litmus test for Gambhir and Rohit, both of whom will be under severe pressure.
