India head coach Gautam Gambhir has come under fire as the team is staring at a second home Test series defeat within a year under his guidance.

Trailing 0-1 in the two-match series, India’s first innings folded for a below-par 201 after South Africa racked up 489/10 in the ongoing Guwahati Test. The Proteas are firm favourites to walk away with a 2-0 win as they stretched their overall lead to 314 runs at stumps on Day 3.

Gambhir's tenure as India Test coach has seen seven wins and nine losses, including a 0-3 clean sweep at home against New Zealand.

Amid the debacle, former BCCI chief selector Kris Srikkanth has slammed Gambhir for inconsistency in India’s Test selection, saying that he is not ready to listen to justifications from the team management.

“Every alternate match someone is making debut. They can say trial and error. Gautam Gambhir can say whatever he wants. I don’t care. I have been a former captain and former chairman of selector. I know what am talking. I am not talking through my hat. You need consistency,” Srikkanth said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

In the first Test at Eden Gardens, India played Washington Sundar at No. 3, only to push him down to No. 8 in the second Test. Sai Sudharsan, who was left out of playing XI in the series opener despite scoring 87 in his previous Test, returned at No. 3 in Guwahati.

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was recalled for the second Test, managed to score only 10 runs as the hosts conceded a hefty first innings lead of 288 runs.

Srikkanth was particularly irked by Reddy’s selection, arguing the youngster is not yet good enough to feature in India’s Test XI, especially in home conditions.

He suggested that India should have preferred a specialist batter like Sarfaraz Khan over Reddy after skipper Shubman Gill was ruled out of the second Test due to a neck injury sustained in the series opener.

"Who calls Nitish Reddy an allrounder? Can anyone see his bowling and say he is an all-rounder. He hit a hundred in MCG but what has he done after that. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, as they say. If Nitish Reddy is an all-rounder then I am great all-rounder.

"Does he have movement, pace? He is not some deadly batsman either. Let’s call spade a spade. How is Nitish in ODI team also? What has he done? Is Nitish replacement for Hardik Pandya?! Why not Axar Patel?”

India’s misery continued on Day 4 of the Guwahati Test, with South Africa extending their lead to over 450 runs in the second session. The hosts will need to bat out of their skin to save the second Test and avoid another home whitewash.