Gautam Gambhir is nearing his one-year anniversary of being appointed India’s head coach. It was on June 29 last year that Rahul Dravid signed off after a successful tenure, having led India to a T20 World Cup glory in the West Indies, leaving the spot vacant, eventually filled by Gambhir. The two-time World Cup winner had mentored the Kolkata Knight Riders to IPL victory, and with VVS Laxman saying no to the job and Ricky Ponting’s candidature turned down by the BCCI, Gambhir, the obvious choice, officially came on board on July 9, embarking on a new journey and marking a new chapter for Indian cricket.
But almost a year down the line, Gambhir’s start has been underwhelming. Yes, India won the ICC Champions Trophy in March, but it’s mostly their return in Test cricket, which leaves a lot to be desired. India has won just three Tests out of 11 under Gambhir – two against Bangladesh and one against Australia. And now they are trailing 0-1 in England. That Gambhir hasn’t been able to deliver results has led to the idea of split coaching – Gambhir to look at T20Is and ODIs, and the charge of the Test team could be given to someone like Laxman.
However, here’s the catch. The BCCI and its decision–makers have never received the idea of anything split – be it coaching or captaincy – well. If one may recall, even split captaincy wasn’t entertained when Virat Kohli gave up T20I captaincy in 2021. Suryakumar Yadav is certainly captaining India’s T20I team, but that’s only because he doesn’t warrant a place in India’s ODI XI yet. Hence, the same logic applies to Gambhir. Gambhir’s job, which runs up till the 2027 World Cup, is under no jeopardy whatsoever; in fact, even if India are to be run ragged in England, including the possibility of a 0-5 whitewash, Gambhir will continue as coach.
“At the moment, Gambhir is doing a good job with a young team. In transition, you do not always get the intended results. Australia and England both struggled during their transitions. So, it’s premature to take a call on Gambhir. We still have four Test matches in England, and we are hopeful that we can turn things around. Beyond that, we will see. He (Gambhir) has full trust of the board,” a BCCI official told InsideSport.
Gambhir’s time as India coach has witnessed no shortage of turmoil. When India lost 1-3 in Australia to squander the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, dressing room chats were leaked before Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirements from Test cricket. Although both made the decision themselves, a section of the public feels that the duo was forced to retire given their poor, lingering forms. The conspiracy gained more steam because not too long before their decisions, Rohit told Michael Clarke in an interview that he was looking forward to touring England, while Kohli told his Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh that he wanted to ‘score 3-4 centuries’.
Gambhir has a long road ahead. After England, India hosts West Indies, South Africa and then tours New Zealand for a challenging away Test series, assignments which really tend to test his mettle as India’s head coach.
