Shamik Chakrabarty in Guwahati
Maybe, after such a press conference, one is allowed to read between the lines and interpret. It felt like Gautam Gambhir, India’s head coach, was under pressure. India’s performance in the second Test against South Africa here in Guwahati was shambolic. A 408-run loss in a home Test – the biggest in terms of runs – laid bare the tattered fabric of the Test side, and it wasn’t a case in isolation. Over the last 12-odd months, India have played seven Tests at home, losing five. And probably for the first time during his tenure as India coach, Gambhir is feeling at heat.
Sample this. “Start prioritising Test cricket, if we are really, really serious about Test cricket,” he said at the post-match press conference. “And that is something which is important. That is going to happen overall where everyone needs to be the stakeholder for that. So, if we really care about Test cricket, if we want Test cricket to flourish in India, I think we got to have a collective effort to make that happen. Just blaming the players or just blaming the support staff or just blaming certain individuals will not help.”
At whom his dig was aimed at? “We can’t put things under the carpet,” he went on. “Come the white-ball formats, if you get runs in white-ball formats, suddenly you forget about what you have done in red-ball cricket. That should never happen. Because red-ball cricket is a completely different challenge to white-ball cricket, and is a completely different challenge to what you get in T20 cricket. There needs to be different skill sets. And more importantly, there needs to be tough characters that are important to be a successful Test side. You don’t need the most skilful and the most flamboyant players to succeed in Test cricket. You need the toughest characters with limited skills, who will go on to succeed in Test cricket, irrespective of the conditions and what the situation is.”
It was just the trailer. He gradually upped the ante. Gambhir didn’t take any names, but drove home his point. “It comes from care,” he noted. “What you care about the dressing room, how much you care about the dressing room and the team. Because accountability and the game situation can never be taught. You can talk about the skills, you can work on the skills, you can keep talking about the mental aspect of the game, but ultimately when you go in, if you keep putting the team ahead of your own self, not thinking that this is how I play, and this is how I will get the results, and this is how I play, I don’t want to play the second (way), I don’t have (a) Plan B, sometimes you will get these kind of collapses as well.”
In India’s first innings, Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant perished, trying to play Hollywood shots. Pant’s attempted slap against Marco Jansen, in particular, bordered on the atrocious. From 95/1 at one stage, India slipped to 120/7 in their first innings and the head coach mentioned that. “I think accountability is important,” he said. “More than the accountability, it’s the care. How much you care about Indian cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well.”
Gambhir questioned the team’s preparations, scheduling to be precise, for the series as well. “Look, obviously scheduling does make a difference,” he said. “Imagine three days before the start of the first Test match we were in Australia. And suddenly you come back from there and you have to join a Test team and you have got two days to plan with the Test side. But that again is not an excuse, and I’m not going to give that excuse as well. Sometimes we can probably prioritise this better.”
The BCCI is in charge of scheduling and tour planning. So once again, this is subject to interpretation.
As he took the blame for the defeat and India’s slump at home, the former India opener was asked if he was the right man for the job as regards the Test team. “It’s up to the BCCI to decide,” Gambhir replied. “I have said it during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach, Indian cricket is important, I’m not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing. And yes, people can keep forgetting about it. I’m the same guy who got results in England as well, with a young team.
“And I’m sure you guys will forget very soon because a lot of people keep talking about New Zealand. And I’m the same guy who won the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup as well. Yes, this is a team which has less experience. And I have said it before as well, that they need to keep learning and they are putting everything possible to turn the tide.”
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