Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar took a cheeky dig at the Indian coaching set-up as he urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to step in and guide the out-of-form batters ahead of the five-Test series against Australia, which will begin on November 22 in Perth.
Gavaskar’s comment came in the wake of India’s humiliating whitewash at home against New Zealand, where the top-order batters, including Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma, have come under the scanner following one of their worst ever shows in a Test series. Gambhir’s role has also come under scrutiny given that India lost a second series since his appointment in July, the other being a 0-2 loss in Sri Lanka in an ODI contest.
When asked in an interaction with India Today on Monday on Gambhir’s tenure, he reckoned that while his mistakes in the “honeymoon period” might be forgiven, he urged the former India opener to take special responsibility to given a batting masterclass on how to tackle Aussie conditions ahead of the series.
Gavaskar said: “The honeymoon period for Gautam Gambhir has ended. We tend to forgive the mistakes made during this period, but we now want him to step in and guide the players properly in the tour of Australia.
However, the batting legend seemed confused on what the respective roles are for each of the support staff in the Indian coaching setup as he asked: “For batting…what is the role of Abhishek Nayar in the team? Is he a batting coach or an assistant coach?”
When made aware by the anchor, Gavaskar laughed, but controlled himself, before taking a dig at Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate saying that Gambhir certainly has more international runs than the two and hence should take by the role of a batting coach in the Australia series.
“Gambhir has scored a lot more runs than the two, so if he can step in and guide the players on how to bat in Australian conditions and the type of approach they should take, then we can probably perform better,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir desperate for a turnaround
According to a report in the PTI, while Kohli and Rohit’s career at stake with many claiming that the Australia tour could be a make-or-break series for the two modern-era greats, Gambhir too is under the scanner. And unless a remarkable turnaround in the tour, where India will also be chasing a bleak opportunity of making the WTC final for the third straight time, BCCI is likely to curb his power after the head coach was reportedly given a free hand in selection matters.
“Gautam Gambhir was given access which his predecessors Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid didn’t have. The BCCI’s rule book doesn’t allow coaches to be a part of the selection committee meetings, but for Australia tour selection meeting, an exception was made.
“The head coach was allowed to attend considering the magnitude of the tour,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
