In a strong statement, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has cautioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) about Gautam Gambhir's 'strange' coaching tactics during the Test series against England. He warned that if these strategies are not carefully reviewed, India could face another "sound beating" in future Test series. While Manjrekar credited the young team led by Shubman Gill for securing a hard-fought 2-2 series draw, he firmly believes that the visitors could have won the trophy had their on-field strategies been more effective.
Sanjay Manjrekar on Gautam Gambhir's 'strange' coaching tactics
Manjrekar's criticism stems from a significant tactical shift since Gambhir became the head coach last year. The team has moved from a bowling-focused approach, which was the hallmark of the Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid eras, to a new strategy that heavily emphasises batting depth. This change was evident in the team composition, which featured several all-rounders at the expense of an attacking spinner like Kuldeep Yadav. As a result, the team became excessively reliant on its three or four frontline bowlers to take wickets, a particularly difficult task on the flat surfaces encountered during the series.
“(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.
Gambhir's coaching campaign in Tests had a difficult start. Before this recent victory, the team had only managed one other positive result under his leadership, a series win at home against Bangladesh. This was followed by a whitewash loss to New Zealand and a subsequent defeat in Australia. Despite some popular opinions, Manjrekar did not consider this series to be one of the greatest contests in the sport's history.
“No, it wasn’t. 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," his column further read.
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