India recently suffered T20I series defeats to Ireland and England under Gambhir's coaching.
However, the white-ball success has not translated to the traditional format. With Gambhir at the helm, India have won eight, lost 10 and drew two of their 20 Tests so far, which includes a couple of clean sweeps against New Zealand (0-3) and South Africa (0-2) at home.
Furthermore, Gambhir has been accused of forcing senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli into retirement from Test cricket. He recently faced backlash after India suffered whitewash in the back-to-back whitewash in the T20I series against Ireland and England.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, former India batter Mohammed Kaif passed a scathing verdict on Gautam Gambhir's tenure as coach.
"I will deduct marks. I will rate him 4 out of 10. You are talking about transparency, right? There are a lot of talks about Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir. That picture is not becoming clear. It's not clear whether they are talking or not. You can see he is talking with (Shubman) Gill and Rohit (Sharma). It is the responsibility of the coach to communicate with the player if there is any problem, to keep everyone on the same page," Kaif said.
"There will be wins or losses, but that communication is important. If one player is dropped, the reason behind it should be clear. If Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir are not working together, this is not good news for us. If they are not on the same page, it is bad news for the fans of Indian cricket. We are talking about the 2027 World Cup; you need the support of seniors. The coach needs to talk with the seniors. When we played under John Wright, he was transparent. I am deducting marks for that. He had a chance to do more with this team," he added.
Several media outlets recently reported that Gambhir and Kohli avoided direct interaction during India’s nets session at Edgbaston ahead of the first ODI against England. This lack of visible contact has reignited widespread speculation regarding a "cold war" or dressing-room rift within the Indian setup.
Ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan, who was also part of the discussion, pointed out the highs of the national side under Gautam Gambhir and gave him 6 out of 10 ratings.
"Under his leadership, we have won the T20 World Cup. His highs are also there. I will give him 6. As far as improvement, transparency and communication are concerned, it is a work in progress. You can call it a concern. Whenever you talk about Indian cricket, one thing you will see is talent and ability. You have all the ingredients. How to use them and make the best out of them is up to you," Zaheer stated.