Tezzbuzz Desk: Team India's head coach Gautam Gambhir is often at the center of discussion and criticism for his decisions. Fans raise questions about his decisions on social media and sometimes he is also trolled fiercely. However, during Gambhir's coaching career, there have been many occasions when his controversial decisions have proved correct on the field and have answered the critics.
Recently, something similar was seen in the Colombo Test also. Gambhir left Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing eleven and gave a chance to Saransh Jain to debut. After this decision, questions arose that when the team has an experienced spinner like Kuldeep, then why was he dropped? But as the match progressed, Saransh Jain tried to justify this decision with his performance. Saransh Jain took two important wickets in the first innings of the Colombo Test. These included the wicket of Sonal Dinusha, who had scored consecutive runs against the Indian bowlers in this series. The special thing was that Saransh Jain dismissed Dinusha with the new ball and made it difficult for Sri Lanka to avoid follow-on. This decision of Gambhir was also in the news because Kuldeep Yadav had earlier taken only one wicket in the Test played on the spin-friendly Galle pitch. In such a situation, keeping the circumstances in mind, the team management gave a chance to Saransh Jain and his selection seemed effective.
This is not the first time that any decision of Gambhir was questioned and later the same decision appeared to be proved correct. Gambhir has also been criticized a lot for his decision to continuously back fast bowler Prasidh Krishna. Despite this, the team management continued to have faith in him. In the first innings of the Colombo Test, Prasidh Krishna took three wickets for 52 runs in 16 overs and bowled brilliantly for India. Even in white ball cricket, Gambhir has been continuously giving opportunities to the young fast bowler Harshit Rana. Questions were raised many times on social media regarding Harshit Rana and Gambhir was trolled. But Harshit has proved his usefulness in the team by making important contributions with both bat and ball. Harshit Rana batting at number 8 also gives additional options to the team. His ability to bat along with his bowling provides strength to the lower order for the Indian team.
Criticism of Gambhir's decisions is not a new thing. His style is such that he does not shy away from taking surprising decisions depending on the circumstances. But his supporters argue that any decision should be evaluated not just at the time of announcement, but on the basis of its outcome. Be it giving a chance to Saransh Jain in the Colombo Test, keeping faith in Prasidh Krishna or continuously backing Harshit Rana – many of Gambhir's decisions have shown that he has a clear strategy for the players. This is the reason why no matter how much criticism Gambhir has to face on social media, the impact of his decisions is visible on the field. It is not possible for every decision to be successful in cricket, but Gambhir's strategy definitely shows his ability to take risks and trust the players.