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'He hasn't been...' - Former India cricketer slams head coach Gautam Gambhir for India's flop show in Test cricket

Former cricketer commented on India's poor performance in red-ball cricket and put the blame directly on Gambhir for not being on his game 'tactically.' 

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Arunima Purohit
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Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir Photograph: (X)

Team India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, is going through a tough time after taking over the position from Rahul Dravid. The transition happened in July 2024, and since then, India have lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka, the home Test series against New Zealand, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Tons of records have been broken under him, and because of this, he has received a lot of bashing from many former cricketers and fans. 

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Gambhir was appointed the head coach after he won the IPL 2024 with KKR as their mentor. The Board had a certain level of confidence in him, which led to their giving him the post. However, he hasn't been impressive at all. Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif also commented on India's poor performance in red-ball cricket and put the blame directly on Gambhir for not being on his game 'tactically.' 

"The best coach is the one who is tactically superior. He should know how to pick the right XI according to the conditions. What side he should go with against a team like Australia, that is a coach's job. The rest, like solving Virat Kohli's technical issues, may not be possible because he may not have gotten that time yet. 'Boss you do this' to solve your batting issues. Perhaps Gambhir hasn't reached that stage yet. He would need more time. But Gambhir hasn't been on the top of his game tactically. He has been lagging behind," said Mohammad Kaif.

Also Read: Gautam Gambhir heaps praise on youngsters for magnificent performance in BGT 2024

He should have given an explanation for that: Mohammad Kaif

Kaif also mentioned dropping Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin from the starting games was a mistake according to the player. He demanded an explanation from Gambhir for these kinds of changes made to the team. 

"The point is that you lost three Tests at home against New Zealand. You reached Australia with a squad of 19 and then didn't play Jadeja in the first Test, why didn't you? He should have given an explanation for that. Ashwin, who is a legend, didn't pay for the first Test. However, we won the first Test because of Bumrah but these are the tactical mistakes that he has to correct in future," added Kaif. 

Mohammad Kaif Gautam Gambhir India
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