The start to what was promised to be a fruitful coaching career hasn’t gone the way Gautam Gambhir or the well-wishers of the Indian team had predicted. Gambhir arrived in the Indian team on the back of a title-winning campaign at Kolkata Knight Riders. But, since becoming Team India’s head coach, Gambhir has suffered an ODI series loss in Sri Lanka and a clean sweep at home against New Zealand in Tests. As the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top brass tightens its screws on the slumping performances, Gambhir faces a make-or-break Test campaign against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The series is unarguably Gambhir’s biggest ‘Test’ to sustain the India coach job in the longest format.
It has been reported that Gambhir could see his role as Team India’s head coach being taken away from him if India fail to do well in Australia. While the BCCI intends to stick with Gambhir as the white-ball coach, a poor show Down Under could be the final nail in the coffin for him in red-ball cricket.
According to a report in Dainik Jagran, if the Indian team fails in Australia too, the BCCI could ask a specialist like VVS Laxman to take up the coach’s role in Test cricket while Gambhir would stay put only in ODIs and T20Is.
It isn’t yet known if Gambhir would accept such a change, if it comes down to this. If the Border-Gavaskar Trophy remains a closely-fought contest, the BCCI might have a tough decision on its hands to make.
Gambhir was engaged in an intense 6-hour long meeting with the BCCI selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar and India’s ODI and Test skipper Rohit Sharma on Friday. During the meeting, Team India’s 0-3 Test series loss at home against New Zealand was discussed, along with the factors that contributed to such a result.
It has been learned that there remain a few disagreements between Gambhir and think-tank in the Indian team over certain decisions, especially with regards to team selection. However, such differences don’t augur well for the team, keeping the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in mind.