Gautam Gambhir’s past comments on Ravi Shastri resurface following India’s defeat to New Zealand

Gautam Gambhir’s rocky start as head coach of the Indian cricket team has sparked criticism, especially after his past comments questioning Ravi Shastri’s achievements resurfaced following India’s defeats to New Zealand.

New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir’s coaching stint with the Indian cricket team has had a rocky start, with India first losing an ODI series to Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years in August, followed by a rare home Test series defeat under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy after 12 months.

India’s remarkable world record of winning 18 consecutive home Test series was halted by New Zealand, culminating in a disappointing 113-run defeat in Pune, following an earlier eight-wicket loss in Bengaluru, with only one match remaining in the series.

Following the end of India’s home dominance, Gautam Gambhir has faced widespread criticism as the team suffered defeat in just his second Test series in charge.

Amid the criticism, Gautam Gambhir’s past remarks about former India head coach Ravi Shastri have resurfaced, featuring a clip where Gambhir harshly questioned Shastri’s achievements in his career, now adding fuel to the scrutiny he faces.

“I’m sure that people who haven’t won anything give these kinds of statements. I don’t know what Shastri has achieved in his career apart from winning the World Championship in Australia. I don’t think he was a part of an overseas series win. If you haven’t won anything yourself, you end up giving this kind of statement. I’m sure people wouldn’t have taken this seriously. I’m sure he must not have seen enough cricket. If he had he seen enough cricket, he wouldn’t have given that statement,” said Gambhir in an old interview with News 18.

“It was very childish. Even if you had won 4-1, you won’t say this is the best Indian team touring abroad. You would still stay humble and say we want to take this, we want to go forward, we want to keep improving. You wouldn’t say this is the best Indian team ever overseas. This is childish. I’m sure people wouldn’t have taken this seriously. I don’t know about other people but I didn’t take it seriously because it was a very immature statement,” Gambhir added.

Ravi Shastri served as India’s head coach from 2017 to 2021, leading the team to two historic Test series victories in Australia, a feat never achieved by any Indian team before. Gautam Gambhir, who succeeded Rahul Dravid earlier this year, is under a three-and-a-half-year contract set to run until December 2027.