India have played 18 Tests under Gambhir, winning seven, losing nine and drawing two.
India's batting struggles on spin-friendly pitches continued as they succumbed to a 30-run defeat in the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens inside three days.
The hosts failed to chase a target of 124 on a crumbling surface, getting bowled out for a paltry 93 to concede 1-0 lead to Proteas in a two-Test series.
This outcome has put India head coach Gautam Gambhir under scanner. India have played 18 Tests under Gambhir, winning seven and losing nine, including a humiliating 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home.
Amid mounting pressure on Gambhir, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has come to the defence of coach.
"I saw a comment yesterday suggesting that I was defending GG. Yaar, coach thodi jaake khel raha hai andar (The coach is not playing out there)," Uthappa said in a YouTube live session.
"We are looking at the results and blaming a coach, but you have to look at the overall scenario. When they criticised Rahul Dravid, it didn't make sense to me. Scoring 20-30 thousand international runs is not easy. So, if he can be trolled, anyone can be trolled."
Uthappa went on to highlight that substandard pitches in domestic cricket get reprimanded but not in international matches.
"We had neutral curators come and control the kind of wickets we were going to prepare. Because if a game got over in two days, the groundsmen and association were reprimanded. But here, matches are getting over in two-and-a-half days. However, you say no to those types of wickets in the Ranji Trophy," Uthappa remarked.
"You are not encouraged to prepare turning tracks. Even if you are going to prepare a progressively turning track, where there would be a lot of turn on Day 3 and Day 4, you can actually develop batters who are equipped to play well against spin. We have been discouraged from doing that in the past 10 years, and you are taking the players to task for not playing spin well. How will they play if they don't play matches in those conditions?"
India will look to square the series when they face South Africa in the second Test, starting on November 22 in Guwahati.