Under the coaching of Gautam Gambhir, the Indian team has performed well in ODI and T20. After Gambhir became the head coach, Team India won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup titles but Team India’s performance in Test cricket has not been anything special. Apart from drawing the 5-Test series in England 2-2, the Indian team has lost all the major series.
Only last month, South Africa had defeated Team India in the 2-Test series. This was the Indian team’s second consecutive series defeat at home within a year and it was a clean sweep both times. After the crushing defeat in the Test series at the hands of South Africa, questions were raised on Gambhir’s coaching style. He was criticized a lot for playing all-rounders instead of specialist players. Also, there was a demand to remove him from the post of head coach of the Test team.
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Gambhir’s chair was in danger
After defeat after defeat in Test cricket, there are clouds of crisis over Gautam Gambhir’s coaching tenure in this format. Meanwhile, news agency PTI has reported that after the South Africa series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had contacted VVS Laxman. Laxman, head of BCCI’s Center of Excellence (CoE), was asked whether he was interested in becoming the coach of the Test team.
Laxman had rejected this offer and thus Gambhir’s position was saved. However, there is still suspense on what will happen next. According to the PTI report, Gambhir’s contract with BCCI is till the 2027 ODI World Cup but there is a possibility that it will be reconsidered. A decision on Gambhir’s future can be taken considering India’s performance in the T20 World Cup. There is still a dilemma in the corridors of BCCI whether it would be appropriate to keep Gambhir as the coach for the remaining 9 Tests of the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.
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BCCI rulers have their hands on Gambhir
India has to play two Tests against Sri Lanka in August 2026, while it has to tour New Zealand in October. After this, the Australian team will come to play a 5-Test series in January-February 2027. A BCCI source told PTI, ‘Gambhir has the full support of the BCCI rulers. If the Indian team defends the T20 World Cup title or even reaches the final, he will continue in the post. It will be interesting to see whether he continues to be the coach in the Test format also.
He further said, ‘He (Gambhir) has the advantage that there are not many options for coaching in Test cricket. VVS Laxman is not interested in becoming a coach. Even in the Indian dressing room, during Gambhir’s tenure, many players are not feeling as safe as they did during Rahul Dravid’s tenure when everyone’s roles were fixed. During Dravid’s three-year tenure, players got a long time to prove their worth.
BCCI has enough time
Gambhir’s influence was on the decision to drop Shubman Gill from the T20 World Cup team and many players believe that if this can be the case for the next ‘poster boy’ of Indian cricket, then anyone can be the next name to be dropped. There will be IPL two months after the T20 World Cup and BCCI will have plenty of time to consider different coaches for different formats or the same coach for all three formats.
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