Gautam Gambhir has spoken, not at a press conference, but on social media. And there’s enough to read between the lines. It’s a thinly-veiled dig, but directed to whom? The Indian team’s head coach has left a lot of room for speculation.
The backdrop is necessary. On Wednesday, as India played the first match of a five-game T20I series here in Nagpur, the VCA Stadium had a special visitor. Shashi Tharoor, the diplomat-turned-politician who is a member of the Indian National Congress, turned up and had a tête-à-tête with Gambhir. Later Dr Tharoor posted on X (erstwhile Twitter): “In Nagpur, enjoyed a good and frank discussion with my old friend @GautamGambhir, the man with the hardest job in India after the PM’s! He is being second-guessed by millions daily but stays calm & walks on undaunted. A word of appreciation for his quiet determination and able leadership. Wishing him all success — starting today!”
Gambhir responded to that on the same platform via a quote: “Thanks a lot Dr @ShashiTharoor! When the dust settles, truth & logic about a coach’s supposedly ‘unlimited authority’ will become clear. Till then I’m amused at being pitted against my own who are the very best!”
There’s a perception that Gambhir has been instrumental in moving on from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Tests, and choosing Shubman Gill to lead the ODI side as Rohit’s successor. Grapevine has it that the two titans of Indian cricket don’t see eye-to-eye with the head coach. It is also believed that Gambhir has the ultimate authority in running the Indian team.
Under his charge, India have suffered two home series whitewashes in Tests — against New Zealand and South Africa — in little over a 12-month period. They have recently lost a home ODI series against New Zealand.
After the series defeat against South Africa, Gambhir indirectly had targeted the BCCI at his post-match press conference in Guwahati, calling out the poor planning.
“Look, obviously scheduling does make a difference,” he had 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 reportedly concerned about India’s decline as a Test team.
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