Published - | Updated - January 1, 2025 12:40 pm
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Gautam Gambhir got furious, know:
Shortly after India lost seven wickets in 20.4 overs and handed over the Melbourne Test to Australia, Team India’s head coach Gambhir had some strong words for the entire team in the dressing room.
Former Indian opener Gambhir left no stone unturned in his assessment of the team and said enough is enough. Although Gambhir did not name anyone, the gist of his speech was that the players were playing according to their will in the name of natural game instead of playing according to the situation.
Warning the players to follow the rules, he said that going forward those who do not follow their pre-determined team strategy will be “thanked”. The team is trailing 1-2 in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy and qualification for the final of the World Test Championship seems difficult, in such a situation Gambhir has set his limit.
Gambhir told the players that they are doing things on their own will instead of executing the plans discussed. He discussed that the batsmen have been underperforming for some time since the home series against Bangladesh in September.
In the last over before lunch on the final day of the Melbourne Test, Virat Kohli went chasing a wide ball which put the team on the backfoot. Rishabh Pant got out playing a lap shot off a fast bowler in the first innings and pulled a short ball from part-time spinner Travis Head to long-on in the second innings which put the team in a bad position. Captain Rohit Sharma was not in form but got out playing a cross-the-line shot in the second innings. And Yashasvi Jaiswal played a pull shot despite being set for the field late in the evening.
When a team is going through a phase of change as Team India is doing at the moment, rising ambitions and aspirations can often become a hindrance for the team. It didn’t help that Rohit wasn’t in the early part of the tour but joined the team midway through the first Test.
A senior player is taking a pretty active interest in projecting himself as Mr Fix-It. He is reported to be not convinced that the younger players are ready to take on the leadership role and is willing to offer himself as an interim option.
While there may not be any open rift but there can’t be denied the in-depth dissonance in the unit. And there has been centralisation in decision making. It turns out that when Gautam Gambhir took the step of bringing in Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar for the first Test it wasn’t a unanimous decision. These selections can be questioned but they aren’t really wrong.
Rohit’s lack of form hasn’t helped either. He is a captain who usually spends hours planning before the game and interacting with bowling and batting groups and individuals but on this tour he hasn’t been able to carry himself that way. It turns out this is the same person who took time out to explain to Sanju Samson after the toss in the T20 World Cup final why he was not selected.
There are also whispers in the Indian touring squad about the role of the support staff that Gautam Gambhir has picked. During the tour, Indian cricket’s prominent figure Sunil Gavaskar had raised the issue publicly.
Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir is at loggerheads with the BCCI over team selection and team strategy. A report revealed that Gautam Gambhir is extremely upset with the way the team played as the team suffered a defeat on the fifth day of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Melbourne. And Gautam Gambhir is also in favour of re-inducting Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara in the squad for the Australia tour.
Coach Gambhir had requested the selection of Cheteshwar Pujara on several occasions ahead of the first Test against Australia in Perth. But the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee ignored his request. Even after India won the Perth Test, Gambhir is reportedly demanding Pujara’s inclusion in the squad.
India’s struggle with the top order has been clearly seen in the ongoing series. Before the series, Australia bowler Josh Hazlewood had heaved a sigh of relief that Pujara was not in the team.
The former opener lost his cool and lashed out at the Indian cricketers in the dressing room when another batting collapse made them lose the fourth Test match by 184 runs to Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Chasing a target of 340 runs, India lost seven wickets for just 34 runs in the final session of the fifth day and were bowled out for 155. The win gave Australia an unassailable 2-1 lead and ended India’s chances of making it to the World Championship final for the third time in a row.
And Australia decided to start the proceedings from both ends with offspinners Nathan Lyon and Travis Head doing the job in tandem. As per Australia’s plan, they wanted India to make a mistake and Pant did exactly that. Despite having three boundary riders posted on the on-side, Pant attempted a lofted shot off Head’s half-tracker and was caught by Mitchell Marsh at the deep mid-wicket boundary. Following Pant’s dismissal, Australia registered a sensational win by dismantling India’s lower middle order within an hour.
