India coach Gautam Gambhir before the start of the first Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)India head coach Gautam Gambhir has said it is up for the Board of Control for Cricket in India to decide if he is the right man to be in charge of the Test team going forward. Ever since Gambhir took charge as India’s head coach in July 2024, their performances in the long format hasn’t been up to the mark. From being a team that looked invincible at home, they have been whitewashed twice in the space of 12 months by New Zealand and now South Africa.
Having lost the first Test at Eden Gardens last week, India suffered their largest defeat in terms of runs in Guwahati, where they went down by 408 runs on Wednesday. Given the setbacks in Test cricket, Gambhir was asked if he is the right person to coach in the long format, and this was his reply. “It is up to BCCI to decide. I’ve 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,” the former India opener said.
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Gambhir then on to add that he was in charge of the team that drew the Test series in England 2-2. “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 under who won Champions Trophy and Asia Cup as well. Yes, this is a team which has less experience. And I’ve said it before as well, that they need to keep learning and they’re putting everything possible to turn the tide,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir then went on to say there needs to better accountability and it cannot be taught by anyone. “It comes from care. What you care about the dressing room, how much you care about the dressing room and the team. Because accountability and game situation can never be taught. If 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 have a Plan B. So sometimes you will get these kind of collapses as well. So for me, I think accountability is important. And more than the accountability, it’s the care. How much you care about the cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well,” he added.
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