Gautam Gambhir is a marked man these days. Anyone who has overseen a dramatic fall from grace of the kind the former India opener has is bound to be. For nearly a dozen years from the beginning of 2012, India didn’t lose a single home series under the tutelage of Duncan Fletcher, Ravi Shastri, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid. Gambhir has been the head coach only since September 2024, and India have already lost two series in their backyard – 0-3 to New Zealand last November, and now 0-2 to South Africa.
New Zealand hadn’t won a Test match in India since November 1988, South Africa’s last victory came back in February 2010. Neither side arrived believing India were ripe for the taking, yet here we are, with Indian Test cricket at the crossroads. What was once an impregnable fortress has started to become an Achilles’ heel, India’s new-age batters unable to summon the temperament or the skills to counter either pace or spin.
New Zealand’s victory was fashioned by pace in seam-friendly Bengaluru, and by the left-arm spin of Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel in Pune and Mumbai. That series was the beginning of the end of the celebrated Test careers of R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Now with a youngish batting group with not too much experience of Test cricket, India have been undone by the off-spin of Simon Harmer in Kolkata and Guwahati, and by the bounce of left-armer Marco Jansen in the second Test.
There was a time when India topped 400, if not 500, eight times out of 10 in Test innings at home. Against South Africa, their sorry tale of woe has translated to totals of 189, 93, 201 and 140. To say that the wheels have come off will be a gross understatement.
India’s home dominance crumbles under scrutiny
Gambhir cited multiple factors that have led to this latest debacle, among them transition, lightness of Tests under the belt, lack of application and temperament, and a propensity to ‘play to the gallery.’ Maybe he should have thrown in constant chopping and changing, a decided slant towards batting depth at the expense of attacking bowling options, an unsettled batting order ostensibly decided on a whim, and a marked shift away from specialists to quasi-all-rounders who are more suited to the hustle and bustle of white-ball action. Test cricket calls for a specialised, dedicated, uncompromising skillset. One is not sure if Nitish Kumar Reddy, for instance, fits the bill as a No. 7 batter when his medium-pace is only used for five or six overs in a Test.
Questionable decision-making by batters can’t be denied, but what about iffy selection calls that have sparked a sense of insecurity amongst the young bunch? At whose doorstep does that blame lie? How long can lack of Test match play be used as an excuse, given that India’s next assignment in the World Test Championship isn’t until August and that they won’t play a Test at home until the beginning of 2027?
The transition and paucity of Test caps wasn’t on evidence in England in the summer when India amassed 12 centuries in five Tests, boasted three batters who topped 500 runs for the series and who, with a bit of luck and a little more prudence, could have even secured their first series triumph there in 18 years. So, why is home comfort now such a discomfort? Why hasn’t Gambhir been able to replicate the deeds of his illustrious predecessors, under whom even Test defeats were rare as hen’s teeth? How can one wish away five losses in seven games when India didn’t lose as many matches in the preceding dozen years? When does accountability start to come into play?
Gambhir was specifically asked if, in light of the results in the last 14 months – India have lost 10 of 19 Tests under his watch, four of them at home in nine outings – he still believed he was the best man for the job in Test cricket. “It is up to the BCCI (cricket’s governing body in the country) to decide,” he replied. “I said during my first press conference when I took over as the head coach that Indian cricket is important, I’m not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing.”
Then, he outlined his CV in defence of his coaching stint. “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 the same guy who won, under whom we won the (50-over) Champions Trophy and the (T20) Asia Cup as well.”
By invoking the two white-ball triumphs, Gambhir might have sought to deflect some of the scrutiny away, but no one is biting. There has been widespread criticism even from his former teammates of the decisions he and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have taken which have adversely impacted India’s Test fortunes. There is no hiding away from the fact that Indian Test cricket is in the middle of a full-blown crisis. Gambhir isn’t so myopic as to not see it; what’s he going to do about it? When, and how? And with what resources? Accountability shouldn’t be an expectation of others alone, surely.
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