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After a promising IPL title with KKR, Gambhir faces criticism as India’s head coach, with spin woes and batting collapses against NZ sparking concerns.
Gautam Gambhir finds himself under pressure after a rocky start to his tenure as Team India’s Head Coach. (Image: Sportzpics)
Gautam Gambhir’s stocks were on the rise after his mentorship led to the Kolkata Knight Riders taking their third Indian Premier League title in 2024. But now, after he was appointed Team India’s Head Coach, questions have arisen regarding India’s shortcomings with the bat following the series defeat to New Zealand in Pune, on Saturday.
The Gambhir era began with a T20I series victory over Sri Lanka during their white-ball tour in July, earlier this year. But India’s cause for concern came about during the three-match ODI series. With big-name stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being brought into the side, many expected this Indian team to easily get past an underperforming Sri Lanka side. But the Indian unit was undone by Sri Lanka’s spin trio of Charith Asalanka, Dunith Wellalage and Wanindu Hasaranga who fought hard to take the tie in the first ODI.
However, things would get even worse for the Indian team as the next two games saw the Indian batting unit crumble to Sri Lanka’s spin attack yet again. The returning Jeffrey Vandersay had a phenomenal outing in the second match with a six-wicket haul to help the Lankan side take the lead in the 50-over series. It was a similar story in the final ODI as Wellalage took a five-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka take the series lead and questions were asked regarding the 2023 ODI World Cup finalists and their ability to play spin.
India’s concerns with regards to spin were put on hold momentarily as they crushed Bangladesh to take a series-sweeping 2-0 victory at home. But the challenge would only go upwards as New Zealand came calling.
It is safe to say that not many expected New Zealand to be as dominant as they displayed during the first two Tests against India. Looking back, they did not have much time to get accustomed to the conditions, considering that the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Noida was a complete washout without the toss taking place. Following this, the Kiwis also suffered a crushing 2-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka as well during their tour before the India Tests.
But the Kiwis certainly learned from their defeats as came back roaring against the historically-dominant Indian side in India. It is also to be noted that New Zealand were without the senior-batter Kane Williamson who is also recovering from injury.
Despite all of the things that are going against New Zealand, Gautam Gambhir’s side failed to step up to the challenge. Right off the bat, the New Zealand bowlers decimated India’s batting unit for just 46 runs, a record for their lowest total in Tests playing in home conditions as well. The hosts looked well off the mark when it comes to taking advantage of familiar conditions which resulted in their loss in the opening Test.
The second Test proved to be even more of a disappointment, in terms of performance. Batting collapses, continued to be a running theme, which resulted in a lack of runs which pushed them on the back foot. New Zealand looked to take advantage of their 100-run lead but the Indian spinners finally came to the party to restrict the Kiwis to just 358, India’s disappointing performance with the bat continued, resulting at the end of India’s historic winning streak of Test series victories which lasted for over 4000 days.
