Last Updated on 1 week by Charbel Coorey
It hasn’t been a smooth transition from analyst to head coach for Gautam Gambhir. Since replacing Rahul Dravid following the drought-breaking T20 World Cup win in the Caribbean, India suffered their first ODI series defeat against Sri Lanka since 1997, a shocking 3-0 series loss at home to New Zealand and a first Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series defeat since 2014/15.
The poor run of form has his doubters feeling justified. There was a view that Gambhir didn’t have the merit for the position given his experience as an IPL mentor to date. However, according to Cricbuzz, India are likely to persist with Gambhir for the foreseeable future, and it will be interesting to see how the head coach responds from here.
Gautam Gambhir: India coach yet to put his thoughts as analyst into action as coach
Over the years, Gautam Gambhir has been vocal of the role bowlers play in winning matches at tournaments. On the eve of home Tests against Sri Lanka in 2022, Gambhir said Rohit Sharma won’t face difficulties as Test captain because of what Virat Kohli set up from a bowling point of view. During the 2023 ODI World Cup, Gambhir said bowlers win you tournaments.
“This is what I have been saying from such a very long time; it’s the bowlers that win you tournaments and not batters and that’s exactly what our bowlers have shown today,” Gambhir said after India beat England, as quoted by India Today.
“I hope going forward we talk more about Mohammed Shami [who took four wickets against England at Lucknow]. Ever since his comeback in this lineup, it’s a completely different bowling lineup now and this was probably the best spell that I have seen from a fast bowler, bowling while chasing. It was incredible. Fast bowling of the highest quality. The pace, the lengths, the seam position, everything.”
Even as coach, Gautam Gambhir has spoke on the importance of bowlers. He even called for India’s “batsman-obsessed” culture to end as recently as October.
“This is the era of bowlers. Batters only set up matches. This batsman-obsessed attitude of ours needs to end. If a batter even scores 1,000 runs, it doesn’t guarantee victory,” Gambhir said at a press conference before the India-New Zealand Test series, as quoted by Times of India.
“But if a bowler takes 20 wickets, then there is a 99 per cent guarantee that we will win the Test match.”
However, what India have produced compared to what Gambhir has said is like chalk and cheese. Despite playing at home against New Zealand, who hadn’t won a Test in India since 1988, India were on the defensive, with nearly a quarter of deliveries resulting in singles and twos. It is reflective of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy approach in Tests, but Gambhir, as coach, surely has a say on how the team should play despite the obvious PR ahead of the Sydney Test against Australia.
Speaking of Australia. India ran Jasprit Bumrah into the ground, forcing him to bowl him spell after spell as the lack of depth came to the fore. The lack of consistent support for Bumrah was a key area of concern in Adelaide and Brisbane, but India instead chose to strengthen their batting by playing two spinners – Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar – in Melbourne and Sydney. Bumrah, as feared by many, went down injured.
Sure, Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy and got India back into the contest at the MCG. Their 127-run stand was a terrific show of grit and determination, and the time it took out of the game gave India hope that a draw would be the worst result they would achieve.
The issue, though, is they conceded 474 and were playing from behind. In Australia’s second innings, India didn’t finish off the job after reducing the hosts to 91/6 and a lead of just 196. Pat Cummins’ team went on to lead by 339 and India’s chances of victory went up in smoke.
However, the big red flag was Sydney. India went in with the same combination on a very green pitch, opting for the extra batting that Gambhir has often spoken against. Playing two spinners with Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj already having big workloads was a huge risk. They ran out of juice with the series on the line on an SCG pitch that was still challenging to bat on by the time Australia’s run chase began.
Jadeja bowled three overs in the entire Test. Sundar came on for the first time when Australia needed 11 to win. It is a clear contradiction to Gambhir’s views on bowling depth as an analyst and even in press conferences as coach
If the pre-SCG Test Indian Express article is true that Gambhir “let the team do what it wanted for ‘the last six months'”, then that is not someone who has the mindset to give India a tactical edge. For Gambhir to succeed, he needs to implement his views we have seen and heard more strongly than he is currently.
Next up is the Champions Trophy. India, under Rohit Sharma as white-ball captain, should be in the final four at the very least. If not, the pressure will only amplify.
India’s next Test assignment is England away in mid-2025, and we can assume Gambhir will be there. It will be interesting to see his approach as coach in terms of the team combination he helps to select, as well as how long he persists with underperforming players. How positive India will be in their quest for a first series win in England since 2007 is the key question.
Time will tell.
