Gautam Gambhir has so far coached India in 11 Tests, however the team has only managed to emerge victorious on three occasions in his reign. The Men in Blue have recorded a total of seven defeats under the guidance of Gambhir which includes three losses against New Zealand on home soil, another three to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25 and a defeat to England in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Following the five-wicket defeat in the Headingley Test, former England cricketer Monty Panesar expressed concerns over Gambhir's tenure as the India head coach. Panesar stated that if the Men in Blue's fortunes don't change in the upcoming matches, then not only are the fans going to troll Gambhir, but the BCCI may also be forced to take some drastic decisions after the end of the series.
Gambhir replaced Dravid as India's head coach in 2024
Notably, Gambhir got appointed as India's head coach in July, 2024 following the Men in Blue's triumph in the T20 World Cup. He replaced Rahul Dravid for the prestigious position. Though his record in both the white-ball formats has been great so far and he has also guided the team to the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy title, it is red-ball cricket where he needs to improve by a big margin.
"The problem is that if Gautam has the ability to make his team into a good batting unit, he then needs to show the ability can make the team into a good bowling unit. Fans are going to troll. They're going to come after Gautam Gambhir. When India were 400 plus, India should have won the Test match. But the question is, 'Is Gautam Gambhir a good coach to make the bowling good? Does he have the ability? ' He needs to show that," Panesar told IANS.
“He needs to now think, right, I know how to get the batting to fire, but as a coach, can I pick the team to take 20 wickets? That's his biggest challenge right now in England, and if he is not able to demonstrate that, then I think the BCCI will slowly, Test by Test match, assess him, and they'll just think, you know, what should we do after the end of the series? His biggest challenge is going to be to pick the right attack for every venue to take 20 wickets,” he added.
Panesar believes that either Kuldeep Yadav or Washington Sundar will get a chance in the playing XI for the second Test as the pitch at Edgbaston is dry and it will help the spinners a little. He also feels that both Prasidh Krishna and Jasprit Bumrah will be rested for the match while Arshdeep Singh will be brought into the playing XI.
“It's going to be a turning wicket. Edgbaston is dry. We won't see much grass from the wicket. I think it will help India. The Edgbaston wicket will suit India. India just need to work out, right? Batting isn't the problem. It's bowling. We need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match. That's the most important thing, and Shubman Gill did say, ‘I will pick 5-4 tailenders, but an attack that can take 20 wickets," Panesar stated.
“From that point of view, I think Prasidh Krishna bowls too short, maybe give him a rest. Bumrah, I think, will rest anyway. Kuldeep Yadav comes in, or Washington Sundar, one of the other, to play an extra spinner. Ashdeep Singh has to play. Left arm seam, I think that will cause problems for the England team. Then, they have Mohammed Siraj, maybe Shardul Thakur could play,” he added.
It remains to be seen what changes will Gambhir & Co. make to India's playing XI for the second Test. The match at Edgbaston will be highly important for the Men in Blue as if they end up recording another defeat, then it will become incredibly hard for them to make a comeback into the series and England will be the favourites to win the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy..