Why is Team India looking so fragile again?

Former BJP MP, businessman, Test cricketer and now head coach of the Indian cricket team, Gautam Gambhir evokes strong reactions in both friends and critics. He has been described as brash, blunt, outspoken.

Critics point to his on-field spat with Virat Kohli in an IPL match in Lucknow a couple of years ago. “We have seen players get into a brawl but never a coach or a mentor,” recalls a former cricketer, shaking his head, adding, “Not done.”

In contrast, T20 captain Surya Kumar Yadav has spoken effusively about the head coach: “He is relaxed, gives us a lot of freedom and has ensured a great atmosphere in the dressing room… Most of the time he understands what is going on in a player’s mind without even talking to him.” Handsome praise indeed.

Coaching the high-profile Indian cricket team is tough. India’s whitewash at home, losing 0–3 to New Zealand and an equally disastrous tour of Australia have raised questions about Gambhir’s suitability for the job and his relationship with the players.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s dramatic retirement in the middle of the Australia tour, some questionable selection calls and the simultaneous poor form of mainstays Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have queered the pitch further.

A BCCI media advisory put out on 17 January said Rohit Sharma and the chairman of the selectors, Ajit Agarkar, would hold a press conference at 12.30 p.m. the next day to announce the team for the T20 series and the Champions Trophy. The briefing was delayed by two hours, reportedly over differences between Gambhir, Sharma and Agarkar.

Gambhir reportedly wanted Hardik Pandya as vice-captain in the 50 overs format for continuity, while Sharma and Agarkar were backing Shubman Gill with an eye to the future. There was also discord over Rishabh Pant vs Sanju Samson as wicketkeeper-batter for the Champions Trophy.

Pant made the cut, with both captain and chief selector plumping for him.

Barring exceptions like Kohli and Bumrah, Gambhir is known to prefer a team of all-rounders with preferably no — or few — ‘stars’. He mentored the less-fancied Kolkata Knight Riders on similar lines in the IPL (Indian Premier League) — with admittedly good results. During the tour Down Under, Gambhir reportedly wanted Cheteshwar Pujara for the final three Tests as someone who can hold one end up but Rohit and Agarkar vetoed his choice.

“Both of us are very clear on what we want to do. I am not going to sit here and discuss what happens behind the scenes and discuss strategies and tactics but it’s very clear in my mind… He [Gambhir] trusts what the captain does on the field. The discussions that happen are only off the field, among players, on the ground or in the changing room, but once we take the field, it is all about what the captain does. That is the kind of trust we have and that is how it should be,” said Rohit Sharma at the press conference.

Sharma, a thinking cricketer with a lazy elegance in batting, was hopelessly out of form. Word was that he would retire from Test cricket after the final Test in Sydney, which he either chose to sit out or was asked to. He did, however, put to rest all the speculation about his retirement during the Sydney Test itself by telling broadcasters that he was not going anywhere.

Gambhir’s abrasive nature, however, was in full view in the Sydney pre-match presser when he was asked why the captain was not present as per tradition.

“There is no [such] tradition. The chief coach is here and that should be good enough… Nothing is wrong with Rohit, but we will decide on the playing XI tomorrow,” was Gambhir’s terse reply.

Rohit Sharma was left out of the playing XI next morning and the pundits were unanimous in saying that he deserved better.

Gambhir returned last year as ‘mentor’ to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which lifted the IPL trophy for the third time. Its two earlier victories were also under Gambhir, as captain.

He was understandably on a high, being hailed as the man with the Midas touch. The cricketing grapevine has it that it was on the same evening (26 May 2024) that BCCI secretary Jay Shah suggested that Gambhir take over as national head coach from Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup in June.

Gambhir, who ended his five-year stint as a BJP parliamentarian in March, found the offer hard to resist. Says a source in the BCCI: “It’s not that Gambhir was too keen; he was looking after his father’s substantial business interests and also had a young family. But the package offered to him — substantially higher than Dravid’s — was the clincher.

”Besides, the BCCI (read: Jay Shah) bent over backwards, giving in to all his other demands, including support staff of his choice.’’

Coaches do prefer to work with people they are comfortable with. When Ravi Shastri’s tenure as head coach ended, Rahul Dravid commissioned Paras Mhambrey and T. Dilip, who had both worked with him at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as his bowling and fielding coaches.

Gambhir went a step further, insisting on support staff based on their loyalties to him from the IPL days — be it Abhishek Nayar or Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coaches (KKR) or bowling coach Morne Morkel (Lucknow Super Giants).

The shoddy batting display against New Zealand and Australia raised eyebrows, though, and the BCCI has now tagged the current India ‘A’ batting coach Sitangshu Kotak to Gambhir’s team on a short-term basis for the T20 series.

Speaking to National Herald, former Team India cricketer Manoj Tiwary said, “Yes, I find Gambhir’s position hypocritical. During his days as IPL mentor, he kept saying that foreign coaches do not understand the psyche of our players, but he pushed for them once he became the India coach.’’

Eyebrows have also been raised at Gambhir’s ‘manager’ Gaurav Arora travelling and staying with the team during the Australia tour. How does it square with Gambhir’s reports on players travelling with family and spending time with friends?

Sabyasachi Sarkar, a senior cricket writer and Sports Editor of Bangla daily Ei Samay, confirmed that the presence on tour of Gambhir’s personal staff often interfered with the privacy of the players and selectors. “It’s laudable that Gambhir is trying to discipline the players and eradicate the superstar culture, but then he needs to practise what he preaches,” Sarkar said.

A private TV channel added another damning allegation that the coach had accused Sarfaraz Khan, who sat out the entire Test series, of leaking Gambhir’s dressing room outburst shortly after their defeat in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Gambhir reportedly said to his players: “Bahut ho gaya! (Enough is enough!)”

The allegation spurred his erstwhile teammate and now commentator Harbhajan Singh to say that such leaks can only sow mistrust among players and create a replay of the Greg Chappell era.

“Whatever happened in Australia and after that, be it the series defeat or the performance of the players, there is no need for new stories from the dressing room on a daily basis. If Sarfaraz Khan did this in Australia, Gambhir should have spoken to him. He is a young player and will play for India in the future,” Bhajji said.

Is Team India a divided house under Gambhir? Indian players have never been comfortable with hard taskmasters. Ravi Shastri was hailed as a great coach mainly for his hands-off style of management. His claim to fame was to bring Kohli and Rohit Sharma on the same page by sitting them down for one-on-one chats, feeding the story of the superstars’ bromance on national media.

Among overseas coaches, the likes of John Wright and Gary Kirsten were happy playing backroom boys. Rahul Dravid, for whom earning the respect of the current lot was never a problem, came out of his shell to do an excellent job. V.V.S. Laxman, who was the original choice for head coach, also has that ability.

But make no mistake, whether popular or not, Gautam Gambhir is no pushover. He even has the right political connections and is hungry to put his stamp on the team.

A deep talent pool affords India the luxury of picking different squads for different formats—T20, ODI and Tests—and to even chop and change its playing XI in every format.

Just six months ago, the ‘Men in Blue’ were on the top of the world after winning the T20 World Cup and ending a long ICC trophy jinx. There are reports of a communication breakdown between the head coach and senior players and a growing chasm between Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar, chairman of selectors.

After back-to-back Test series defeats now, the BCCI brass is smarting and reportedly looking for scapegoats.

So, yes, the head coach is on probation — but two white ball series at home and the ICC Champions Trophy early this year will offer him the opportunity to potentially shut his detractors up.

On the other hand, the BCCI has given him a long rope — but if Gambhir still can’t turn things around by the ICC Champions Trophy, his tenure will come under intense scrutiny.