Under head coach Gautam Gambhir, Indian cricket has hit a new low after losing their first Test series to South Africa at home since 2000.

India suffered a massive 408-run defeat to South Africa in the 2nd and final Test in Guwahati.

Amid speculations regarding his tenure, Gambhir said that it is up to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to decide his future.

Reflecting on India’s series defeat in the post-match press conference, Gambhir said, “It is for the BCCI to decide. I have said this before as well, Indian cricket is important, I am not.”

“I am the same guy who got results in England, won the Champions Trophy, and the Asia Cup. This is a team that is learning.”

Notably, India’s Test side has been struggling since the retirements of match-winners Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin. (News Bytes)

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Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has strongly warned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of Gautam Gambhir’s ‘strange’ tactics in England, saying that were these not looked into in detail, it might lead to another ‘sound beating’ in Tests. Manjrekar credited India’s 2-2 series draw in England to the young team led by Shubman Gill, but said the visitors would have won the trophy had the strategies been better.

Gambhir, who became India’s coach last year, has pivoted to a batting-heavy strategy, in contrast to the bowling-favouring one under Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. It meant playing several all-rounders for batting depth, not picking an attacking spinner in Kuldeep Yadav, and the team being overly reliant on the three or four main bowlers to constantly chip in with wickets on flat surfaces.

“(Yashasvi) Jaiswal, Gill, (KL) Rahul & (Rishabh) Pant & even Washy (Washington Sundar) are your safe bets even against quality opposition but I fear for India’s seam bowling and its strange tactics led by Gambhir with regards to playing XIs and bowling changes, if these controllables were handled better, India would have beaten the natives 3-1 you would think,” Manjrekar wrote in his column for The Hindustan Times.

“That a class act like Kuldeep did not feature at all will remain one of the shocks of the series, when you are playing an opposition with a very weak bowling attack and a strange batting approach such selection blunders can cost you. A similar approach versus Australia and India would pay a heavy price for it, like we saw recently in the BGT. In the current euphoria these tactical mistakes if not questioned by the selectors and the BCCI, leave India vulnerable to another sound beating against a good side,” he added.

This was only the second positive result of Gambhir’s campaign in Tests. Under him, India beat Bangladesh at home, were whitewashed by New Zealand, and then lost to Australia away.

‘Sorry to burst your bubble’

Manjrekar also denied that this series, contrasting to a recent popular opintion, was one of the all-time great contests in the sport.

“No, it wasn’t,” he wrote. “For starters, sorry to burst the bubble, it has to be one of the weakest bowling attacks from both sides that I have seen in a series featuring two main stream teams.”

Taking aim at Jasprit Bumrah, he added: “The one bowler with great skills and ability had a bizarre approach to playing in this series even before it began, so bowling greatness or excellence was seen very sporadically over 175 hours of Test cricket.” (News18)

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