When Indian cricket is struggling with the poor form of its two great players, captain Rohit Sharma and senior batsman Virat Kohli, the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff in dealing with the period of change in the team has also become a topic of discussion.
The team has had a difficult journey in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as it has struggled to find the right combination against an aggressive and extremely strong Australian team. The visiting team will play the fifth and final Test match here from Friday, winning which is very important for it.
Due to the ups and downs on the field, some problems are arising outside the field as well and discussions of unrest in the dressing room are increasing. It is learned that Gambhir is not on the same page with most of the players in the team and the communication is not as good as it used to be during the time of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Captain Rohit Sharma had said that he personally talks to the players on selection issues but after Gambhir took charge in July, Rohit has not clearly told some players why they are being kept out of the team. Who are not junior.
Rohit’s own poor form has not helped him either. But it has also been reliably learned that Gambhir, considered to be the more vocal one, does not enjoy much confidence among the group of players who are not as old as Kohli or Rohit but not as new as Harshit Rana or Nitish Reddy. A senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) told PTI on the condition of anonymity, “There is one Test match left and then there is the Champions Trophy. If the performance does not improve then Gautam Gambhir’s position will also not be safe.
Gambhir’s equation with the selection committee is also not clear at this time. There are players in the team who are feeling insecure because of his tendency to experiment with the eleven. Players like Reddy have performed brilliantly in the current series but there is still debate going on regarding the decisions regarding Shubman Gill. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has now become the head of the International Cricket Council and the board will find his full-time successor only after January 12. Once administrative stability is achieved, the top BCCI officials will have something to think about.
As long as Shah was in charge of BCCI, he used to take decisions. The current chairman of the board and former Indian fast bowler Roger Binny has not been seen taking any policy decisions. But if India’s performance is not very good in the Champions Trophy to be held in February-March, then Gambhir’s chances will be cut. “He was never BCCI’s first choice (VVS Laxman was) and some of the well-known foreign names did not want to be coaches of all three formats so he was a compromise,” the BCCI official said. Obviously there were some other compulsions as well.
Gambhir has already been asked some tough questions after the 0-3 defeat at home against New Zealand and if the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is also lost then things will get difficult for this former opening batsman from Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi. Can happen. There is already a school of thought that Gambhir should be given command of only the T20 team, a format in which he has been a successful captain and then a successful mentor for both Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Supergiants.
A question is also being asked whether he has been able to provide any solution to Virat Kohli’s continuous dismissal outside the off stump? Given the circumstances, the answer seems to be ‘no’. A former legend who played more than 90 Tests for India said, “Gautam used to press the ball towards slip and gully all his life while playing in England and Australia. So he knows what Kohli’s problem is. He has seen it as a player (in 2014) and as a commentator and now as a coach.
He said, “If he (Gambhir) knows what is wrong then he (Kohli) should tell it.” BCCI officials are also keeping an eye on some other developments regarding a key member of the support staff. With whom his personal assistant stays at all places. It is believed that the person concerned had access to the ground during the IPL where he used to enter after the match wearing the franchise jersey. According to a top source, his presence in the box dedicated to BCCI members in Australia was not appreciated.
