IND vs NZ : Sunil Gavaskar Delivers Blunt Verdict On Gautam Gambhir’s Coaching After New Zealand Series 3-0 Whitewash

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Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar minced no words in his critical assessment of Gautam Gambhir‘s tenure as a head coach of the Indian team. His comment came in the wake of India’s embarrassing Test series defeat at home against New Zealand last week.

India’s form under Gautam Gambhir has taken a sharp nosedive, and the main catalyst to that has been the form of India’s batting in the longest format. The form of seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli has come under question, and Gavaskar did not shy away from saying that their future could be in doubt if they do not perform well in Australia.

Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as Indian coach since Rahul Dravid’s retirement.

Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the successor for Rahul Dravid. Dravid’s tenure for India ended with the victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Gautam Gambhir joined the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka tour where the T20I squad won the series but the ODI side lost the series .

The 3-0 series loss against New Zealand marks the second biggest loss under Gambhir’s time is the second biggest loss. Now the Indian team will travel to Australia for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

The report further revealed that there not only Gautam 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.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar reviewed Gautam Gambhir’s time as head coach after Indian team lost a three-match Test series against New Zealand. The visitors achieved a 3-0 clean sweep over India which marked first loss for India in a home Test since 2000.

Sunil Gavaskar delivers blunt verdict on Gautam Gambhir’s coaching after New Zealand series 3-0 whitewash

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar provided a blunt assessment of new head coach Gautam Gambhir by saying the results paint the picture themselves. Team India have suffered multiple embarrassing defeats already in the three months since Gambhir took over as head coach.

After a 3-0 win in the T20Is in Sri Lanka, the Men in Blue shockingly lost the ODIs by a 0-2 margin. Gambhir’s stint in Tests began well with India crushing Bangladesh 2-0 at home.

However, one of India’s worst-ever series losses followed when they suffered a first home Test series whitewash (more than two matches) to New Zealand.

When asked to review Gambhir’s coaching stint thus far, Gavaskar told India Today:

“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 also blamed the entire think tank for several tactical errors during the New Zealand series.

“I think every team has a think tank. Probably the captain, vice-captain and the coach — these are the guys who take the decisions. That’s how it goes. Sometimes, the captain makes snap decisions at the last moment. May be, he will decide to promote someone to bat higher up the order. If it works out, it becomes a great decision. If it doesn’t work out, it looks bad. I think these decisions would have been taken by the think tank,” added Gavaskar.

After a questionable decision to bat first on a seam-friendly pitch in the opening Test in Bengaluru, India also made several tactical errors in terms of selection and pitches for the next two matches.

“Got to be due to the thinking that India needed to win and qualify for the WTC final” – Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar feels India went for turning pitches in the second and third New Zealand Tests with the assumption of dominating the visitors on such wickets. Yet, he highlighted that with Jasprit Bumrah in the lineup, India should have gone the opposite route and prepared pacer-friendly tracks.

“I think that’s got to be due to the thinking that India needed to win and qualify for the WTC final. And the thinking of the change-room would be that the only way we can win is by preparing pitches, which will turn from day one despite having, by all accounts, the best new ball bowler in the world in our team – Jasprit Bumrah. He’s the best new ball bowler in the world,” said Gavaskar.

He added:

“I mean, just about every every cricketer you know everybody who follows the game of cricket will say that he is the best new ball bowler in the game today, so we should be preparing pitches which will help him, actually. Then you have somebody like Akash Deep, who will also look good. With New Zealand, it’s bowling attack, with the greatest of respect, they’re not the kind of bowling attack that you know Indian batters should be succumbing to.”

While Bumrah picked up three wickets in the opening Test, he went wicketless on a turning wicket in the second Test. The final Test was also dominated by the spinner as the pacers combined to pick up only four out of the 40 wickets.

Yet, the move backfired as the Indian batters came apart against the turning ball and New Zealand’s left-arm spin twins – Ajaz Patel and Mitchell Santner.

Like the senior batters in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Gautam  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.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights

 

 


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