Gautam Gambhir fires back at Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal’s split-coaching suggestion following India’s Test series losses.
India sealed a 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa on Saturday, marking a moment of redemption for the Gautam Gambhir-coached side after being whitewashed in the preceding Test series. India had suffered a shock defeat in the first Test in Kolkata, failing to chase a modest 124 in the fourth innings.
The second Test in Guwahati ended in an even heavier setback, with the hosts losing by 408 runs — their biggest defeat in Test cricket. It was also India’s second Test whitewash under Gambhir’s tenure as head coach. The results triggered criticism from several quarters, with some questioning Gambhir’s red-ball coaching acumen.
Addressing the media after the ODI series, a visibly frustrated Gambhir defended the team, highlighting that India were forced to play the opening Test without Shubman Gill, who was ruled out after sustaining a neck injury.
“Look, there were a lot of talks, no doubt, because the results didn’t go in our favor. But the most surprising thing is that no one, no media, no journal, wrote that we played the first Test match without a captain, who didn’t bat in both innings. And the difference was in the third run. Because I don’t give excuses in the press conference, it doesn’t mean that you don’t show the facts to the world or to the country,” Gambhir said.
“When you go through the transition and when you lose your captain in that series, who is also an in-form batter in red-ball cricket, who has made around 1000 runs in the last seven Test matches, if you lose your captain against such a team, then obviously the results are difficult, because there is not much experience in red-ball cricket. And the surprising thing is that no one even talked about it.
“All the discussions about wickets, all the discussions-I don’t know what all things were said. And people, who have nothing to do with cricket, said things. An IPL team owner (Parth Jindal) also wrote about split coaching. So this is a surprising thing. It is very important for people to stay in their domain. Because if we don’t go into someone’s domain, then they also don’t have any right to come into our domain.”
Gambhir was referring to Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal, who had recently suggested the idea of split coaching — a proposal that sparked debate across the cricketing fraternity.
“Not even close, what a complete thrashing at home! Don’t remember seeing our Test side being so weak at home! This is what happens when red-ball specialists are not picked. This team is nowhere near reflective of the deep strength we possess in the red-ball format. Time for India to move to a specialist red-ball coach for Test cricket @BCCI,” Jindal posted on X on November 26
In this series, India’s star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his maiden ODI century in the third match against South Africa, reaching the milestone in 111 balls. With this, Jaiswal became the sixth Indian batsman to score centuries in all three formats of international cricket.
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