Sunil Gavaskar minces no words in ‘terrible’ assessment on Gambhir’s head coach role: ‘Numbers speak for themselves’

On Monday, a day after the 25-run loss against New Zealand in the final Test match of the series in Mumbai, which led to India incurring their first-ever Test series (minimum of three matches) defeat on home soil, Gavaskar was asked about Gambhir’s ongoing stint as the head coach of the Indian team, and the batting legend replied saying “the numbers tell the story.” He was quick to remind that India had lost an ODI series (2-0) against Sri Lanka in August in his second assignment since assuming the role. It was India’s first defeat in a bilateral series against the Asian side in 27 years.

“The results speak for themselves. Even in Sri Lanka, India lost an ODI series after a long time. And now here, it’s a loss, it’s a terrible loss. So, I think the results speak for themselves,” he said.

Gautam Gambhir’s performance under scanner

Like the senior batters in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gambhir’s position in the Indian team is also reportedly under the scanner after the loss against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. According to news agency PTI, unless a remarkable comeback in the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, BCCI is likely to curb Gambhir’s power after the head coach was 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.

The report further revealed that there not only Gambhir’s philosophy of playing Test cricket, a few of his tactical choices spotted during the recently-concluded New Zealand series – sending Mohammed Siraj as night-watchman on the second evening of the third Test and Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings – have raised quite a few eyebrows. Not to forget, questions have also been raised about the lack of prudence on display by going for a rank turner in Mumbai despite knowing that the Indian batters have increasingly become vulnerable against spinners.