BGT could be Gambhir's last assignment as India head coach

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 08:33:50 GMT

The Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has come under immense fire following his flop show in the recently concluded bilateral series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Since his appointment in early July, Gambhir has been dealing with absolute extremes. It started off with an impressive 3-0 T20I series win in Sri Lanka and a clean sweep against the Tigers at home across formats.

Questions were raised after India managed to lose an ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years but the loss that perhaps hurts the most is India's humiliating test series defeat at home against a fairly inexperienced New Zealand side. Under his mentorship, India went on to attain a rare unwanted record of being whitewashed for the first time at home in a three-match bilateral series.

The Rohit Sharma-led Indian side suffered a string of shocking defeats at Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai as their batters severely faltered against facing spin in their own backyard. There was a growing sense of optimism when Gambhir assumed the coaching role for the Blues but all those talks have now gone for a toss as Gautam Gambhir faces a possible exclusion from his coaching duties if the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy does not go to plan.

Gambhir's position under threat

According to a report published by Dainik Jagran, there are high chances of Gambhir being replaced by VVS Laxman should the team fail to deliver any possible results in Australia. This move can turn into a reality in the midst of the series as well. Gambhir's role will then be confined to India's white-ball assignments. It is not clear how Gambhir would react to such an unprecedented change but if the BGT series turns out to be closely contested, then the management will have a tough call to make on Gambhir's future as a head coach in the longest format.

A galloping six-hour scrutiny for Gambhir

The unthinkable Test series sweep against the Kiwis at home is undoubtedly a tough spill to swallow for everyone at BCCI. The management is tightening their scores on Gambhir and is demanding some tough answers from him. As per PTI, Gambhir was reportedly interrogated for six hours straight in a meeting comprising chief selector Ajit Agarkar and India's ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma.

In this in-depth review meeting, Gambhir's decision to go with rank turners and rest Bumrah ahead of the crucial third Test and Gambhir's overall coaching style were all put under the scanner. Following such an infamous debacle, such an outcome was expected from the BCCI. The management would obviously like to ensure that the team gets back on track and would gets battle-ready just in time to face the mighty Aussies in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy.