Former cricketer Suresh Raina has come to the defence of under-fire India head coach Gautam Gambhir, saying the team's dismal show in home Tests cannot be attributed to the support staff as players must shoulder responsibility for the results.

India, after being shockingly whitewashed at home by New Zealand last year, suffered another humiliating series sweep at the hands of South Africa on Wednesday (November 25).

The hosts lost the second Test in Guwahati by a huge margin of 408 runs to concede the series 0-2 to Proteas.

"Gauti bhaiya (Gautam Gambhir) has worked really hard and he is not at all at fault. The players have to work really hard and play well. Under him we have been doing great in the white-ball format where we just won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this year," Raina told 'PTI Videos'.

"The players have to score, the coach can only guide, advise and give support to the players," he added.

Speaking of India’s dominance at home before Gambhir assumed charge as head coach, the team didn’t lose a single Test series at home from 2013 to 2023.

However, Raina dismissed suggestions that Gambhir's future as head coach is at risk due to debacles at home.

"If they (the players) are facing any issues, they must be communicating to the coach that this is the issue. If the players do well then the coach will be also applauded. But if the team is not doing well, it should not be that the coach should be sacked from his post," Raina said.

"I have played with Gautam bhaiya, he loves Indian cricket team, he loves cricket, I have played and won the World Cup with him. So, he has done really well for the country and it is the players' responsibility to do well," he remarked.

Raina said performances in domestic cricket should remain the benchmark as he reacted to scrutiny of India's selection calls in the Test series against South Africa.

"They should play domestic cricket regularly and do well there, if they do well that will automatically reflect in their performances at the international level," he stated.

Raina also emphasized the challenges of modern cricket, including three different formats and packed calendar.

"Also the planning of the series can be better because you have to quickly switch formats from white ball and suddenly you are playing red-ball cricket again so the players I believe have less time in hand.

"The players should also improve their application in the middle, I hope this all is getting noticed...," he said.

Raina is looking forward to the ODI series between the two sides, starting November 30, where stalwarts such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be in action.

"Ro-Ko (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) will be back, yes. They did well in Australia and will surely strengthen the ODI squad against South Africa. Both of them are great ambassadors for world and Indian Cricket.

"When they'll be in the side then the atmosphere will be different, Rishabh Pant is also back after a while so it will be fun to watch the ODI series."

(With PTI Inputs)