New Delhi, Jan 8: Gautam Gambhir is discovering that leading Indian cricket today comes with as much scrutiny as power. The turning point arrived during the 2024-25 Perth Test, when a surprise press release landed in reporters’ inboxes before the match had even been won.
Issued by a private PR group linked to several IPL teams, the release praised Gambhir’s choices—backing Virat Kohli, promoting KL Rahul to open in Rohit Sharma’s absence, and selecting Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy. It highlighted Kohli embracing the coach and proclaimed that Gambhir had silenced critics after India’s earlier whitewash against New Zealand. Notably, captain Jasprit Bumrah—whose bowling was central to victory—was not mentioned at all.
The incident marked an unusual moment in Indian cricket, where historically captains—not coaches—have shaped teams and strategy.
Even legendary coaches from Greg Chappell to Rahul Dravid operated behind the scenes or yielded to leadership on the field. Gambhir, however, has been pushed into the role of frontman.
Fast forward a year, after India suffered a second successive home Test series defeat—ending a 12-year unbeaten home run—Gambhir finds himself the lightning rod for fury online and in stadiums. Clips from his TV career are circulating as memes, and assistant coach Sitanshu Kotak felt compelled to defend him publicly, citing the limited-overs side’s results.Reports have since suggested the BCCI discussed splitting coaching duties between formats—something England, Australia and South Africa have already abandoned.
While T20 is increasingly its own world, India remains ill-suited to dual-head structures given tight player pools, scheduling, and workload management needs. Without a powerful director of cricket overseeing decisions, competing coaches could create chaos.
Even so, criticism directed solely at Gambhir ignores deeper realities. Factors shaping recent defeats include inexperienced players not raised on Test cricket, the waning era of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s dominance, injury setbacks such as Shubman Gill’s, and South Africa’s ideal spin attack for Indian conditions. Luck also ran thin, with key tosses lost.
But Gambhir is now the most influential Indian coach in memory—without needing to confront player power like Chappell, defer wholly to a captain like Ravi Shastri did with Kohli, or stay quietly backstage like Dravid. And with influence comes backlash.
Fans are dredging up his old comments and controversies, from criticising selectors while vice-captain to fronting betting promotions on match days. The public rarely forgets.
Team selections have become the fiercest point of attack, amplified by instability created by India fielding four captains during Gambhir’s tenure. While Shubman Gill mirrors Kohli’s early trajectory as a leader, he hasn’t projected the same force of personality—at least yet. Under Shastri, Kohli had clear ownership of the team. Under Gambhir, identity feels less settled.
Paradoxically, Gambhir has overseen significant success—India have lifted the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup, and swept every bilateral T20I series—yet defeats overshadow triumphs when the coach is treated as the face of the team.
If the mounting backlash is unsettling Gambhir—as hinted by defensive press conferences and sharp responses to criticism—the solution may be to bring balance back to leadership structures, not to amplify his presence further. (Agencies)
