India's Champions Trophy 2025 performance next month will be used to "re-evaluate" Gautam Gambhir's tenure as head coach. This comes amid worries that his efforts to eradicate the team's long-standing "superstar culture" are causing dissatisfaction in the locker room.
The Indian squad has lost six of ten Test matches and a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka since Gambhir took control in July of last year. But Gambhir's position has also become slightly shaky. Adding to the drama is his speculated rift with prominent players during the Border-Gavaskar Test series in Australia, which India lost 1-3.
"If India doesn't do well in the Champions Trophy, the head coach's position could become untenable. Yes, his contract runs till the 2027 World Cup but the process of evaluation continues. Sport is result-oriented and till now, Gambhir hasn't given any tangible results," a senior BCCI source told PTI.
The BCCI has already evaluated the team's performance in Australia. It is known that when it comes to team culture, Gambhir and the senior players don't agree.
"Gambhir wants to end the superstar culture that has been prevalent for so many years now. As captain of Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012, he had dropped Brendon McCullum from the playing XI for the IPL final against CSK. He has come here to dismantle the superstar culture and that's what has caused discomfort for some playing members," the source said.
He cited another instance from his Delhi playing days to explain Gambhir's mindset.
"Once, as Delhi Ranji captain, Gambhir decided that they would play home matches at the Roshanara Ground in Delhi North-West where the pitches were green-top. But one huge superstar, who was also out of the Indian team, wanted to play the games at the Jamia Milia Islamia ground, which was closer to his south Delhi residence. Gambhir turned him down. Similarly, in the Indian team, he doesn't want star culture to breed," the person added.
Reports have suggested, that the head coach was not happy with the way certain top-level players made particular requests regarding accommodations and practice schedules during Australia tours. Senior players, however, have believed that he has not communicated well enough.
The national selection committee's stance in this ongoing tussle is that the head coach shouldn't have too much influence on selection decisions. According to a former selector, Gambhir's style has been compared to that of controversial former coach Greg Chappell.
"Either you be like Ravi Shastri, who would be media-friendly, or give those sound bites propping up players making them look like alpha males. Or be like Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten, or John Wright, who would remain aloof, letting the players hog the limelight. The 'Chappell Way' doesn't work in India. Gambhirs or Shastris, or Dravids will go, but players will stay," he added.
The BCCI brass is also upset with how Gambhir's personal assistant shadowed the team everywhere in Australia.
"Why was his PA sitting in the car specified for national selectors? They can't even discuss things in private with an unknown third person in the car. Why was he allotted space in the BCCI's hospitality box in Adelaide? How did he have breakfast in the cordoned-off area of a five-star facility which is just earmarked for the team members?" a BCCI official stated,
It remains to be seen what Gambhir’s fate has to offer as India begins its ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on February 20th against Bangladesh in Dubai.
