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Gautam Gambhir was captured doing some shadow practice with a bat inside the dressing room at The Gabba.
IND vs AUS: Gautam Gambhir batting in the dressing room (X)
India head coach Gautam Gambhir seems to have become quite frustrated by the frequent rain interruptions in the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane. During a break on Day 3, Gambhir was captured doing some shadow practice with a bat inside the dressing room at The Gabba. The footage surfaced on social media after India suffered a batting collapse in the first innings. Except for KL Rahul, no top-order batters were able to survive long. Virat Kohli returned to the pavilion with three runs, while Rohit Sharma, coming in at No 6, managed only ten runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill also scored in single digits.
After seeing Gautam Gambhir’s dressing room act, many quipped that the legendary batter might be getting ready to take the field. Some fans felt Gambhir was perhaps teaching Kohli how to leave outside-off deliveries. This problem was exposed when Kohli nicked a delivery off Josh Hazlewood and was caught behind by Alex Cary in the first innings.
Dropping the video on X (formerly Twitter), a fan humorously said, “Gautam Gambhir is so frustrated by team India batters. He is thinking of batting.”
Another Indian supporter joked about the same and assumed that Gautam Gambhir might replace Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma in the fourth Test of the series in Melbourne. “GG was seen doing shadow practice in the dugout,” added the person.
Since Gautam Gambhir took over the charge, India’s batting performance in Test cricket has dipped. They have managed to breach the 400-run mark only twice. During this period, India has played 14 matches and has been bundled out for less than 200 as many as seven times. Before the Australia tour, the Rohit Sharma-led side endured a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand at home.
Gambhir ranks among the greatest top-order batters India has ever produced. As a Test opener, he scored 4154 runs in 58 matches. Gambhir was named the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2009. He also had a key role in India’s victory in the 2011 ODI World Cup.
