'Not an easy call to take, but...': Gautam Gambhir's ex-teammate urges Team India to adopt split-coaching after NZ defeat

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa, who played alongside Gautam Gambhir for multiple years at Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL, believes that the team can consider to take up split-coaching after they were defeated by New Zealand in the recently-concluded ODI series. This was the Black Caps' first-ever victory in a one-day assignment on Indian soil. Not only this, India's defeat in the third and final match at the Holkar stadium was the first time that they lost an ODI in Indore.

Uthappa vouches for split-coaching

With Gambhir coming under the scanner once again for India's disappointing results, Uthappa reignited the debate around split-coaching. The latter backed the idea of appointing different head coaches across the formats and believes that this method will help in keeping the team's mindset fresh and motivated.

"There are multiple ways to slice a cake. I am very open to having multiple coaches for different formats. India plays a lot of cricket. You feel like the mind also becomes stale when you move from one format to another. Sometimes you are so consumed. You can't really prepare for another format when you are dealing with one at a certain point in time. So you want to have that freshness of mindset and energy as well. From that perspective, I feel it (split-coaching) should work," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

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Uthappa further remarked that this isn't an easy decision to take as it will require the team to work in proper cohesion.

"It is not an easy call to take. You need them to work in tandem and together. If they are all working against each other, then everyone suffers. To work in cohesion becomes important," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

"Communication lines being open at all times, knowing when someone is going to take the lead and someone taking the backseat, knowing the importance of that. It is possible but it needs to come from a place of building something big," he added.

India to face New Zealand in T20Is next

Meanwhile, with India's ODI results taking a hit, Gambhir will be hoping that the team maintains their top form in the shortest format ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue will be taking on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series, starting from Janaury 21 and this will be their final assignment before the World Cup that will begin from February 7.