Why singling Gautam Gambhir out for Team India's woes is unfair

Few would have backed New Zealand to end India’s run of 18 consecutive Test series wins at home, especially after getting blanked 0-2 in Sri Lanka. Fewer still would have expected the three-match series to end in a clean sweep in the visiting team's favour .

It was only natural to expect a backlash from the Indian cricket fraternity after a defeat of this magnitude – the first time India had suffered a clean sweep in a Test series comprising three or more matches at home. The Rohit Sharma-led side had been subjected to incessant trolling ever since they had been shot out for 46 in Bengaluru, which only intensified after the events in Pune and Mumbai.

It was also natural for the BCCI to sit up and take notice, and have a stern word with captain Rohit and head coach Gautam Gambhir, which resulted in a six-hour meeting at the board's Mumbai headquarters on Friday.

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As per reports, Rohit and ‘GG’ were grilled over the nature of the defeat as well as the decision to rest Jasprit Bumrah and choosing rank turner in Mumbai during the course of the meeting, which was also attended by chief selector Ajit Agarkar.

There has also been another major development following the meeting, which took place a couple of days before the Indian squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy was to depart for Australia.

Gambhir’s tenure as India head coach which began back in July is reportedly under scrutiny, and the former India opener might end up getting demoted to the status of a white-ball coach should India suffer a similar defeat in Australia over the course of the next two months.

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In such a scenario, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman, who has served as interim coach on a number of occasions in recent years, might take over on a full-time basis in the red-ball format.

Why singling Gambhir out for India’s defeats would be unfair

It is somewhat understandable for Gambhir, who had successful stints as a mentor with IPL franchises Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders, to face the wrath of Indian cricket fans after the team’s declining fortunes in recent months. In his very first assignment since succeeding Rahul Dravid in the role, India suffered its first bilateral ODI series loss against Sri Lanka since 1997 with a 0-2 defeat.

India’s victories over Bangladesh at the start of their home season somewhat helped undo the damage of the series loss in Sri Lanka, with the home team’s extraordinary approach in Kanpur being labelled by some as 'GamBall' . However, India’s abject surrender at the hands of the Kiwis right after the victory over Bangladesh has brought things back to square one.

The anger against Gambhir is understandable to some extent, given how competitive India were during Dravid’s reign. However, to pin all the blame on Gambhir alone, to the point where there are talks of him being demoted from his job, would be unfair to ‘GG’.

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Those who have been following the Indian cricket team and their performances in recent years would know for a fact that a defeat of this magnitude was on the cards. While India’s bowling unit, especially the pace arsenal, has grown by leaps and bounds and is among the best in the current era, the batting lineup has been prone to collapses time and time again.

Rohit and Kohli were quite the force in last year’s ICC World Cup and were also among the runs in the victorious T20 World Cup campaign, but it doesn’t take a genius to understand the fact that they have virtually become ‘walking wickets’ in the red-ball format of late. While Rohit had only recently established himself as a Test regular before taking over leadership in that format, Kohli’s decline in that format post-2019 is even more shocking.

And the sharp decline of Indian batters when it comes to the art of playing spin and its connection to their absence from the Ranji Trophy and other domestic fixtures has already been widely discussed and seen as one of the primary reasons behind India appearing shaky in their own fortress.

Gambhir needs time to execute his ideas

Last, but certainly not least, Gambhir alone isn’t entirely responsible for India’s poor decision-making – the call to bat first under overcast conditions in Bengaluru, only to get bowled out for less than 50 is as much Rohit’s responsibility as it is of the head coach.

Also Read | Factors behind historic Test series defeat of Rohit Sharma and Co

Gambhir wasn’t directly responsible for Rohit setting defensive fields and allowing the Kiwi batters to build pressure on the hosts with a steady accumulation of runs, which led to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar slamming the Indian captain on air in the Pune Test.

India lost the series to New Zealand certainly not because of Gautam Gambhir alone. Rohit’s captaincy and form, Virat’s form, and batting surrender to spin plus so much more to go with Gambhir-Rohit-Agarkar gambling on turning pitches. Can’t believe six hours of post mortem were…

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) November 9, 2024

All the trolling and anger against the Indian team will be forgotten if Rohit and Co are able to bounce back from the series loss against New Zealand and pull off a third consecutive series victory in Australia. Even if that doesn’t happen, it would be unfair to single out Gambhir for the losses.

Gambhir’s style might be vastly different from that of Dravid or his predecessor Ravi Shastri, and giving him the kind of long rope that is extended to some members of the team, especially senior batters, would be the best step forward.