Shane Watson, a former Australian all-rounder, thinks that India's team hasn't been consistent lately because head coach Gautam Gambhir keeps shuffling the players and batting order. Since Gambhir became head coach in mid-2024, India has had a bit of a rollercoaster ride.
They've managed to win a couple of big ICC white-ball tournaments—the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2026 T20 World Cup—plus the 2025 Asia Cup. But they've also had some really puzzling losses, like the recent 0-2 and 0-4 defeats in the T20 international series against Ireland and England.
However, the biggest decline for India has been in Test matches, where they suffered the first-ever home Test series whitewash to New Zealand and then were whitewashed by South Africa as well. They have managed to defeat the West Indies at home and drew against England in England. They also earned a Test series win in Sri Lanka recently.
"The thing that you continue to see and the reason India have been inconsistent under Gambhir is the chopping and changing around the batting order all the time. Players are coming in and out always, and when the team is unsettled, be it the batting order or players coming in and out, that just makes it more difficult for the team to be consistent. That's why India have been so inconsistent,” Watson said on the Prime Video AU & NZ YouTube channel.
Yet, Watson praised Gambhir's backing of players, including Sanju Samson, saying:
"There are a lot of incredible things that Gambhir has brought to the Indian setup. There is no question about that. With the backing of players like Sanju Samson, Gambhir has done wonders for Samson. Samson repaid him and did some amazing things in the backend of the T20 World Cup. So, there are a lot of great things Gambhir has brought."
Samson was the Player of the 2026 T20 World Cup, scoring a hat-trick of half-centuries to finish the tournament, including 80+ scores in the semifinal and final. However, he has managed only two fifty-plus scores in the 11 T20Is since the T20 World Cup.
Shane Watson thinks that if Team India just had more consistency, they'd be the undisputed best team in world cricket. The Indian team has really struggled in the longer format of the game since Gambhir became head coach.
After being the runners-up in the World Test Championship (WTC) twice in a row, in 2021 and 2023, India didn't even make it to the final in the 2023-25 cycle.
"My belief is there is too much chopping and changing around the players under Gambhir. There needs to be a little more continuity there, and for world cricket, if they do that, they are going to be ridiculously hard to beat," said Watson.
India is struggling in the ongoing 2027 WTC cycle as well and needs to defeat New Zealand 2-0 and Australia 5-0 to qualify for the final.
