Gautham Gambhir, the Indian cricket coach, is known for his feisty and combative nature. He played the game tough and was never afraid of a challenge. He gave his best when it came to India. This was the player Gambhir. However, the coach Gambhir needs to show some maturity and Gautham Gambhir must reduce talking. Why am I saying this? This is because of his various recent comments. India was just humiliated at home by New Zealand. A series score of 0-3 is shameful. It happened under the watchful eyes of Gambhir. Just a previous month, India lost another series, this time to Sri Lanka in ODIs. Gambhir beginning as the coach is eventful. No Indian coach in the recent past have had so many losses right at the outset.
Before he tookover as the coach, Gambhir demanded and got the people of his choice. Ten Doeschate, Abhishek Nayar and Morne Morkel were all handpicked by Gambhir for various positions. When someone gets what he wants, he is expected to deliver. Agreed that these are early days but one cannot ask for a better initiation than a series in Sri Lanka and a home series in India. Yet, somehow, with the choice of staff that he demanded, Gambhir still managed to lose both the series. Anyone in his place, will want to look inward and analyse what went wrong. This is not say that he didn’t introspect but he must be seen to be doing so.
Gambhir’s reply to Ponting
Oneway, is to reduce needless comments. What has he commented? There have been several. Ricky Ponting, a batsman who averaged more than 50 throughout his career spoke about Kohli. What he said made sense. Ponting did not say anything that controversial either. All he said was that someone who has got only a couple of 100s in the last 5 years, is lucky to be in the team. I agree with Ponting. Kohli has performed extraordinarily upto 2019. Especially, in white-ball cricket where his performances were nothing short of legendary. The rot set-in somewhere in 2020 and he is unable to come out of it. He is extremely lucky to still be in the team and his inclusion is not even questioned.
Yes, he had a fabulous 2023 ODI World Cup but apart from that, he does not have any other performance to show for which is extremely disappointing for a batsman of his ability. Every Indian cricket supporter, want him to score and score tons and tons of runs but it just is not coming off. Considering his form over 5 years, what Ponting said was perfectly alright. However, Gambhir is angry towards Ponting.
Ponting and Gambhir
What has Ponting got to do with Indian cricket? He should think about Australian cricket,” said Gautam Gambhir.
Ponting is not the coach of the Australian team. He is just a commentator and as such, he can talk about any player. Moreover, what Ponting said made complete sense. One may call it mindgames before the important series but it was an dispassionate observation.
If Ponting had to think about Australian cricket, why did Gambhir himself, poke the Australian team before the 2023 ODI World Cup?
“I think Pat Cummins doesn’t deserve to compete for Australia in ODIs.” These words were spoken by none other than Gambhir.
Gambhir had egg on his face at the end of the tournament because Australia walked away with the World Cup and Cummins was the captain.
Supporting his players
He has every right, infact, he must support his players but it must be backed up with data. Where is the data that shows both Rohit and especially, Kohli have achieved a lot?
“We have no concerns about Virat and Rohit. I think they’re incredibly tough men, they’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well,” head coach said.
“I think the most important thing for me is they still work very hard, they’re still passionate and they still want to achieve a lot more. The hunger in the dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people, especially what has happened in the last series,” Gautam Gambhir added.
Ready for any pitches
Just about a couple of weeks ago, his team was hammered on pitches that were tailor-made for them. Yet, Gambhir has gone on and said that we are ready for any kind of pitches.
“We don’t control the wickets, we are ready for any kind of wicket. It’s their wish whatever they want to give. We are ready for any kind of condition and our bases are covered.”
What bases is he talking about? The premier batsmen are hopeless. Backup opener gets out in mysterious ways. Youngsters on their first tour. Save for Bumrah, the rest are more of journeyman bowlers and at the age of 31, with hardly 3-4 years of high quality bowling is left in him, the team management always is ready to rest him from games for the nation but not the IPL. What is covered?
Wrapping up Gautham Gambhir must reduce talking
This fellow must be told to stop his rubbish comments and concentrate on how to make the batsmen score runs and the bowlers take wickets and the fielders field well. Let him show some results and then, he is free to talk. Already, there is speculation that the Australian series will be his last if India fails to perform even decently. Let him be mindful of that.