Home
Former New Zealand and England cricketers Simon Doull and Nasser Hussain have publicly criticised India's head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the high-octane Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-2025. Doull even went so far as to predict that Gambhir's tenure could be shorter than that of Greg Chappell, who had a tumultuous stint as India's coach.
The five-match Test series between India and Australia is set to begin on November 22nd in Perth. India has a strong record in recent tours of Australia, winning the previous two series 2-1. However, their recent 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand has raised concerns about their current form.
Team India's recent performances have been mixed. While they clinched a resounding series victories in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and the Test series against Bangladesh, they suffered setbacks in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and the Test series against New Zealand.
Simon Doull takes aim at Gautam Gambhir ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy
The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a crucial test for Gautam Gambhir as India's head coach. His recent verbal clash with Ricky Ponting, who criticized Virat Kohli's performance, added another layer of intrigue to the series. Gambhir responded to Ponting's comments and asked him to concentrate on Australian cricket rather than India players.
“It could be a shorter tenure than Greg Chappell's tenure in charge of India. We have all either play alongside him or sat with him, we know he can be that gruff type of character. Is it what India need at this moment? Well, they certainly feel they do," Doull said.
Given his extensive experience and achievements in cricket, Gambhir has the credibility to engage with players, share his insights on the game, and guide them on the nuances of Test cricket.
"But it's a tough ask, and its a huge series coming up. He's never going to be friendly with the media, but if he embraced it a little more, he could end up having a bit of a cult following. But not sure he's going down that road. And if he doesn't get the results in Australia, or its a 4-1 or 5-0, I don't know if his job continues,” Doull further stated.
Nasser Hussain, another member of the commentary panel, drew a comparison between Gautam Gambhir's leadership style and that of Rahul Dravid. He also expressed surprise at Gambhir's response to Ricky Ponting's comments.
“It's a complete flip because they went from Dravid, who was more affable on the outside, but tough as nails inwardly, while Gambhir is angry on the outside and quite calm in the dressing room. But it was an odd dig at Ricky, who was only asked to comment on Virat, and now has been told to speak only on Australian players. That will be a tough ask as a pundit in an India-Australia series,” Nasser said.
