Former England captain Michael Atherton believes Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir will be under pressure if the Indian cricket team loses the series.
Currently, the visitors are trailing by 1-2 against England, and will eagerly look to secure a win in the fifth clash, in order to draw the series.
Atherton added that India has already suffered a loss in the two Test series, and a third defeat would put the former cricketer-turned-coach under pressure.
“Well, they`ve lost two series in a row. They lost at home to New Zealand 3-0 and they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1. If they lose this series then yeah, he`s under pressure as a coach,” said Atherton.
The former English cricketer said there is also the pressure of representing a country like India, considering its huge population.
“India, with all their resources, their population strength, they`re not a team that people are patient with. They`re expected to win every time they walk onto the park. So three Test series defeats in a row would be a problem for him,” explained the 57-year-old.
Previously, Gautam Gambhir was seen getting involved in a heated verbal exchange with the pitch curator Lee Fortis ahead of the fifth Test match. Team India will also look to make the most out of the opportunities, as England will line up without their full-time skipper Ben Stokes and lead pacer Jofra Archer. Stokes has suffered a shoulder injury, and in his absence, Ollie Pope will wear the captaincy hat.
Additionally, it will be interesting to see if Shubman Gill manages to secure a draw in his debut series as a captain.
Ind vs Eng 5th Test: Full Squads
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, N Jagadeesan, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep.
England`s Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue.
(With ANI Inputs)
