A question or two on Gautam Gambhir’s future as head coach was expected after Team India suffered another whitewash at home in the space of a year.
Gambhir doesn’t intend to cover up his mistakes, but ended up doing so at the news conference.
“It is up to the BCCI to decide,” Gambhir replied when asked about his future in Guwahati on Wednesday. “I’ve said it in my first press conference when I took over as the head coach that Indian cricket is important, I’m not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing.
“And yes, people can keep forgetting about it. I’m the same guy who got results in England (2-2 in the Test series this year) as well with a young team.
“And I’m sure you guys will forget very soon, because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand (0-3 whitewash in the Test series
last year). And I’m the same guy who won the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup as well.”
Fair enough. But in Tests, barring wins over lower-ranked Bangladesh and the West Indies, India’s performance doesn’t bode well at all for Indian cricket at large.
Looking back at this series loss, the head coach said he doesn’t give excuses and “will never do it in the future as well”. But then, he stated: “Four or five batters in this top eight have literally played less than 15 Tests, and they will grow. They are learning on the job and on the field.”
Going back to the 0-3 defeat to New Zealand, Gambhir, of course, without taking the names of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, suggested
that the batting line-up then was much more experienced compared to the current one. And, Gambhir doesn’t like giving excuses.
“Look, first of all, in the series against New Zealand, we had a very different side... I’m sure when you see this batting line-up, the experience of that batting line-up to what this team has is chalk and cheese.
“So, comparing everything to NZ is probably a wrong narrative,” he responded.
No clarity of thought
Rishabh Pant said India’s failure to capitalise on their chances led to their series loss. However, he didn’t highlight the muddled thinking of the team management.
The constant change in the batting order was well documented by Washington Sundar, who batted at No.3 at Eden Gardens and was the highest scorer in the second innings with 31, but then dropped to No.8 in the second match. The all-rounder showed immense skill and temperament while batting for 122 minutes in the first Test on a turner.
Such changes never help a batter’s confidence, though Washington contributed 48 in the first innings in Guwahati.
Pant himself was never at his best. The stand-in captain faced 61 balls across four innings and contributed just 49 runs at an average of 12.25.
He looked quite out of place on the second day in Guwahati, as they failed to pick a single wicket in the first session. Pant used almost every option available at his disposal, barring Nitish Kumar Reddy.
It prompted a strong reaction from Dinesh Karthik. “The bowler they’ve forgotten about a little bit is Nitish Kumar Reddy. He’s been picked as the bowler who could give a few overs,” Karthik said during commentary.
Reddy bowled only 10 overs in the Test. Washington too almost went through the same experience as he bowled only one over in Calcutta despite being picked as an all-rounder on a turning wicket.