Sunil Gavaskar Defends Coach Gautam Gambhir, Blames BCCI for Team's Poor Performance

Sunil Gavaskar statement on Goutam Gambhir: India lost the second Test match played between India and South Africa in Guwahati by a huge margin of 408 runs. This is India's biggest defeat in Tests, and with this, Team India also lost the series 2-0. Following this defeat of the Indian team and its consistently declining performance in Tests, team coach Gautam Gambhir is now under the scanner of critics. While the Indian team is performing very well under his coaching in shorter formats, it has suffered two clean sweeps at home in this major format of the game.

Many people are trolling him on social media, and some critics are also holding him responsible for India's poor performance in Tests. During the match, some spectators even raised slogans against him. Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has come out in his defence against this criticism of coach Gambhir. Gavaskar said that when India won the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup under Gautam Gambhir's coaching, people did not praise him. But now, questioning his coaching solely for losing a home Test series is unfair to him.

A Coach Can Only Prepare the Team

Defending Gambhir, Gavaskar said that a coach can only prepare the team, but performing on the field is in the hands of the players. It is not appropriate to hold the coach responsible for the performance of those who are going to play on the 22 yards. He said, "My question to those who consider Gambhir responsible for the Test defeat is, what did you do when India won the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup under him?" Regarding having a different coach for Tests, Gavaskar, citing the example of Brendon McCullum, said that teams do not need separate coaches for every format. It is wrong to blame the coach solely for the team's defeat.

Preparation Should Be Solid

Gavaskar said, "If we talk about the preparation of teams, last year, before the New Zealand tour of India, they had played on Sri Lanka's spinning pitches. Similarly, South Africa had also played a series against Pakistan in October. These teams came to India fully prepared."

Other teams want to play series against India and invite them to play in their country, which increases their revenue. India should also tell other teams that if you want to play against us, then come here. Just as the Australian team does not travel anywhere during their home season, the Indian team should also give importance to its home season.

If a player has the temperament and technique for Test cricket, they should get an opportunity in the team. There are many such players in domestic cricket who have played on these spinning pitches and also have experience. They have scored many runs in domestic cricket, and such players should be given priority.

Gavaskar said that South Africa is currently the Test world champion. In his view, losing 3-0 at home to New Zealand was more shameful than losing to world champions South Africa.