The Gautam Gambhir-led coaching staff has come under the scanner amidst India’s poor show in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

Trailing 1-2 in the series, the visitors are facing a must-win situation in the fifth and final Test at SCG to retain the coveted trophy. Moreover, they need to win in Sydney to have any chances of making it to the World Test Champions final.

After the crushing 184-run defeat in the Boxing Day Test at MCG, the reports of unrest in the Indian dressing room also emerged.

Rumours are rife that Gambhir is not on the same page with most of the players in the team and the communication isn't as good as it used to be during the time of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.

Skipper Rohit Sharma has maintained that he speaks individually to the players about selection issues. But after Gambhir took over the rein in July, Rohit, it is said, hasn't actually given clarity to some of the not-so-junior players about why they were being left out of the side at times.

It is reliably learnt that Gambhir hasn't earned a lot of confidence from the group of players, who aren't as senior as Rohit or Kohli but are also not rookies like Harshit Rana or Nitish Reddy.

“There is a Test match to be played and then there is Champions Trophy. If the performance doesn't improve, even Gautam Gambhir's position wouldn't be safe," a senior BCCI official told news agency PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Gambhir's equation with the selection panel is also not quite clear at this point. There are players in the team, who are feeling insecure because of his tendency to experiment with the playing XI.

Last month, Jay Shah left the BCCI secretary post to join the ICC as chairman. The Indian board will have its full-time secretary only after January 12.

Till Shah was in charge of BCCI, he called the shots. Former India pacer Roger Binny, who is currently occupying the position of BCCI President, hasn't been seen taking any policy-related calls.

If India's performance doesn’t improve by the Champions Trophy in February-March, Gambhir might have to face the heat.

"He was never BCCI's first choice (it was VVS Laxman) and some of the well-known overseas names didn't want to coach all three formats, so he was a compromise. Obviously, some other compulsions were also there," the official said.

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.

There is a school of thought that Gambhir should only be given charge of the T20I team, a format in which he brought success to both Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants as a mentor.

(With PTI Inputs)