As India’s troubles mount under Gautam Gambhir, the BCCI faces tough questions on selectors, scheduling and team selection.

During his playing career, Gambhir was one of the most fiery cricketers and had the ability to respond when provoked. Ask Shahid Afridi, Shane Watson and Kamran Akmal. But what works for you as a player may not have the same impact when you decide to sit in the backroom as a coach. Having led KKR to the IPL title after 10 years under his mentorship, the BCCI felt that Gambhir was the most suitable candidate to coach the Indian team.

Gambhir entered India’s coaching system after three years of mentorship in the IPL, including two years with Lucknow Super Giants and one year with KKR. The former Indian opener was expected to turn the fortunes around and turn India into a juggernaut that rarely loses. However, 18 months into his role, the picture is not rosy and the complexities are clear for all to see, especially in Tests. But are seriousness the only reason for India’s defeat in the toughest format of the game?

Since taking charge, India’s decline in Tests has been worrying with defeats against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. The first Test assignment under his leadership was the home series against Bangladesh, which the hosts won 2–0. The World Test Championship (WTC) final was just around the corner and New Zealand only needed a series sweep. However, the Kiwis performed brilliantly and whitewashed the three-match series for the first time on home soil. The defeat against Australia was widely predicted, but few expected India’s soft capitulation, to the extent that even the draw in Brisbane led to celebrations in the dressing room.

The demolition Down Under acted as the catalyst for the Test retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and both called time on their careers ahead of the series against England. Gambhir was then asked about the team changes and getting the desired results in the UK. Shubman Gill was made the Test captain and the young batsman achieved a 2-2 draw. Everyone’s hopes were once again back on track when a young team managed to keep Ben Stokes and Co. at bay despite losing senior players just days before the squad was announced for the tour.

However, reality set in three months later when South Africa once again opened the wounds by defeating India 2–0 in the two-Test series, India’s second series defeat on home soil in a year. Under Gambhir’s leadership, India has played 19 Tests, winning seven, losing 10 and drawing 2 with a win percentage of 36.82. These figures are better than only Duncan Fletcher, who had a win percentage of 33.33 in the 39 Test matches he played. However, this record is lower than that of Rahul Dravid (58.33 in 24 Tests), Ravi Shastri (58.13 in 43 Tests), Anil Kumble (70.59 in 17 Tests), Gary Kirsten (48.49 in 33 Tests) and Greg Chappell (38.89 in 18 Tests).

The internet loves to talk about Gambhir and the current head coach as the sole reason for India’s recent defeat in Tests, but anyone who understands the game and knows the nuances of cricket knows that no single member of the support staff is responsible for the huge decline in fortunes. Certainly, Gambhir also needs a better understanding of Test cricket and the respect it deserves, but there are many other reasons why the once-winning juggernaut itself has faded.

Can Gambhir come out to bat?

Gambhir plays a key role in the selection of India’s playing XI and has been guilty of playing wrong combinations on several occasions by preferring all-rounders like Nitish Kumar Reddy. But can the former Indian opener be blamed when the team fails to chase the target of 124 against the Proteas at Eden Gardens, Kolkata? Take away Shubman Gill’s neck injury, but it becomes difficult to justify it when the rest of the batting lineup, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, were inept in showing fight and awareness of the game?

It is easy to spit venom on Gambhir and make scapegoats is futile, but it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that India have lost the art of playing spinners long ago. Rohit, Kohli and even the young players today look weak in dealing with spin on pitches with even the slightest turn on home soil. Gambhir himself was adept at playing spin, attacking the wicket and rotating the strike; Now one of his biggest challenges is to make his batsmen learn from his book.

There have also been cracks in India’s fielding due to many missed catches. Against England and South Africa, many including Yashasvi Jaiswal showed butter fingers. Even the bowling attack, which has ample experience like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja, looks completely at sea when offered cool conditions. Look no further than the recent Guwahati Test. For a long time, India has been playing on rank turners and the bowlers have clearly lost the art of getting the batsmen out by applying pressure.

infection or non-infection

Gambhir himself has issued contradictory statements regarding the infection. The head coach in England said he did not believe in the term, but raised the issue when South Africa lost 2–0. Former Indian openers may say anything, but the team will miss Kohli, Rohit and Ravichandran Ashwin. These trio are the pillars of the Test team and their absence cannot be easily filled by any player, leave alone a coach.

Experience is the most precious commodity in any game, and India will have to bear the brunt of dropping senior players in such a hurry, and Gambhir alone cannot be held responsible, as the rest of the stakeholders – the selection committee and the BCCI – are equally guilty.

Scheduling has also complicated India’s Test performance: they entered the West Indies series just five days after the Asia Cup final, with a similar change before the South Africa series. The first Test against the Proteas came just four days after the final T20I Down Under. With no gap between matches and barely any break between formats, players have become victims of poor performance and the workload is too much for them. Most notably, Gill, who was appointed captain across all formats, has suffered a series of injuries for almost nine months on the road, and he is only 26 years old.

Is Gambhir the only one deciding the strategy?

If the notion that ‘Gambhir is running a one-man show’ is to be believed, it highlights the roles of the remaining decision makers. A coach can never select the playing XI alone and Gambhir has repeatedly reiterated that his job is only to assist the captain. India made a mistake by creating a rank turner in Kolkata, but why didn’t its batsmen and captain tell it that this strategy could backfire? Are the current batsmen unable to understand the room and identify their weaknesses? What is chief selector Ajit Agarkar doing?

For many months now, domestic artistes like Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal are being ignored. Even Karun Nair was shown the way out after a poor series with the bat, a tough tour of England. Gambhir often faces criticism for choosing all-rounders in the playing eleven and rightly so. But what is the reason why Agarkar is not picking more specialists in the team?

Why is IPL performance still being given priority for selecting the Test team? The head coach can only work with the team assigned to him, and if Agarkar gets his house in order by naming more domestic performers, the team management will clearly be forced to have tried and tested operators in the batting lineup rather than white-ball players who rely more on hope rather than the experience of grinding it out.

Gambhir’s stint in Tests is not yielding the desired results; However, there are many reasons behind this huge decline. By putting all the issues in one basket by blaming Gambhir, the real issues have been ignored and the responsibility has been shifted away from the players. In fact, India’s decline in Tests is a shared dilemma and the need of the hour is to make an honest assessment of the players, support staff, selectors, pitches, preparation and coaching as well. However, this simplistic scapegoating needs to be addressed.