Things don’t seem to be going well for the Indian team at the moment. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series scoreline currently reads 2-1 in favour of Australia. If not for rain in Brisbane, it could’ve well been 3-1.
After the highs in Perth where they recorded a fabulous 295-run win, their performance has been on the downward curve. They lost the day-night Test in Adelaide comprehensively (by 10 wickets – just about managed to avoid an innings defeat) before they eked out a draw in Brisbane, thanks to rain. They looked set to draw the game in Melbourne as well with seven wickets in hand, going into the final session. However, they fell like a pack of cards and Australia won by 184 runs.
Thus, the dressing room atmosphere isn’t the greatest. According to a report on the Indian Express, it is believed that Gautam Gambhir lashed out at the entire team for their lacklustre performances.
“Bahut ho gaya (I’ve had enough),” Gautam Gambhir was quoted saying to the team after the loss at MCG, according to the Indian Express.
The India head coach lost his cool and feels he’s given the team more than six months to play like they want. It is being reported that he is unhappy with the on-field behaviour of a certain set of players. In fact, the same Indian Express report has revealed that Gambhir could even take action against players who don’t abide by the team’s strategy.
India were reckless at times with the bat in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Rishabh Pant’s dismissals in both innings raised eyebrows. He tried to lap Scott Boland and was caught at third-man in the first innings. He pulled a short delivery off Travis Head straight to long-on in the third session of the final day when India may have been going draw.
Virat Kohli went for a drive in the last over before lunch. He continued to get out in the same fashion, outside the off-stump. Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in decent touch in the second innings but went for an expansive flick which led to his downfall. Yashasvi Jaiswal who was runout for 82 in the first innings tried to go for an aggressive pull shot with just over 20 overs to go on the final day.
Gambhir pushed for Cheteshwar Pujara’s inclusion; selectors were against it
The same Indian Express report put out a breaking story that Gambhir wanted Cheteshwar Pujara in the squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, the Indian selectors were against the Saurashtra No. 3’s inclusion.
Pujara played last of his 103 Tests in June 2023 in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. He played a key role in India’s victories in Australia in their last two tours. He racked up 521 runs in four Tests while averaging 74.43 and hit three tons on the 2018-19 tour. He got scores of 50, 77, 25 and 56 in the last two Tests during the 2020-21 series. However, it was an inconsistent run of scores that led to his ouster from the team.
