Gautam Gambhir: Head coach Gautam Gambhir’s future will be reviewed based on India’s performance in next month’s Champions Trophy amid speculation of discontent in the dressing room due to his continued insistence on ending ‘superstar culture’ in the Indian team. Since Gambhir took charge in July last year, India has lost six out of ten Tests and a bilateral ODI series in Sri Lanka. Due to this and their poor form, there is a lot of speculation about the international career of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Along with this, Gambhir’s position is also not that strong now. There is speculation that there were differences between him and the key players during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. India lost the series by 1. Had to face defeat by 3.
A board source said, “If the Indian team is not able to perform well in the Champions Trophy, the position of the head coach will also deteriorate. His contract is till the 2027 World Cup but the review will continue.” Results are important and till now Gambhir has not given concrete results. BCCI has reviewed the team’s performance in Australia. It is understood that there is no consensus between Gambhir and senior players on the issue of team culture. Is.
The source said, “Gambhir wants to end the superstar culture which has been prevalent for so many years, he himself sat out in 2012 when he was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders and Brendon McCullum captained in the IPL final against Chennai Super Kings. The source said, “He has come to end the superstar culture and this is causing problems to some players.”
Giving an example, he said, “Once, while being the captain of the Delhi Ranji team, Gambhir decided that he would play the home matches at the Roshanara ground where the pitch is green but a big superstar outside the Indian team decided to play at the Jamia Millia Islamia ground.” He insisted on it which was near his house in South Delhi. Gambhir rejected it. Similarly, he does not want star culture in the Indian team also.
It is understood that he was not happy with how some star players made demands regarding hotels and practice time during the Australia tour. On the other hand, senior players feel that there is a lack of communication from their side.
Amidst all this, there is also the viewpoint of the national selection committee which does not want coaches to have too much say in selection matters, a former selector said that Gambhir has a glimpse of former coach Greg Chappell.
The former selector said, “Either you remain a friend of the media like Ravi Shastri and keep giving statements giving the players an ‘alpha male’ image, or like Rahul Dravid, Gary Kirsten or John Wright, you do your work quietly and help the players. Let it remain in the headlines. Chappell’s method will not work in India.
Gambhir is being compared to Chappell’s coaching methods.
There was a lot of dissatisfaction among the senior players regarding Chappell’s coaching methods. Top BCCI officials are also upset with the fact that Gambhir’s personal assistant remained like a shadow with the team everywhere in Australia. He said, “What was his PA doing in the car of the national selectors, they couldn’t even talk in the presence of an unknown person. How did he get a place in the BCCI hospitality box in Adelaide?” How was he having breakfast in this complex of a five-star hotel which was reserved for the team members.
