The Gambhir-led coaching staff has come under the scanner after the team’s poor show in the BGT.
The Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff has come under the scanner after the team’s poor show in the recently held Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
Gambhir was named India’s head coach after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended with the T20 World Cup triumph in June 2024. The southpaw was appointed with a lot of expectations as he mentored KKR to the IPL title last year.
His stint with the Men in Blue began on a bitter-sweet note as India won the T20I series 3-0 and lost the ODIs 0-2 on the tour of Sri Lanka. Subsequently, India suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat in the home Test series against New Zealand under his guidance.
The recent 1-3 drubbing at the hands of Australia is drawing him a lot of flak. Moreover, the appointment of Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coaches and Morne Morkel as fielding coach is also being questioned by the fans, experts and former cricketers.
Now, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun has claimed that the current coaches may not have the stature or confidence to give inputs to big names like Virat Kohli.
"Virat will ask questions when you suggest, obviously he's world no.1 batter. He will ask how are you saying this, what mistake did I make? I scored runs, why did you not tell me at that time?" Arun said in a Youtube interview to former India batter S Badrinath.
Arun also highlighted how Ravi Shastri’s advice changed Kohli’s fortunes after a disastrous tour of England in 2014.
“Shastri told him, ‘You stand on the leg stump and the ball swings in England. You cannot stand here, stand on the middle stump, come out of the crease. You are the owner of the crease. Kohli followed this in Australia and scored four centuries’”, Arun recalled.
"To say this to Kohli, one needs to have the kind of stature and confidence that Ravi Shastri had, which I think the current coaching staff does not have,” he further remarked.
India’s next big assignment under the Gambhir-led coaching staff is the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, slated to be held in Pakistan and UAE from February 19 to March 9. Before the marquee event, the Men in Blue will face England in five T20Is and three ODIs at home.