India head coach Gautam Gambhir finds himself at the centre of controversy again. Reportedly, Gambhir and India’s star no.3 batter Virat Kohli did not have a one-to-one conversation on the eve of the first ODI of the series against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
As per a report by Sports Now, Gambhir had conversations with senior players Rohit, KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill but not Kohli. India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak spoke to Kohli and Gambhir separately after the 37-year-old fine-tuned his skills in the nets.
Kohli is returning to action after recovering from a hamstring injury. He missed the three-ODI series against Afghanistan at home.
Meanwhile, Gambhir-led team management is facing scrutiny over India's consecutive T20I series losses to Ireland and England after Shreyas Iyer succeeded Suryakumar Yadav as the new captain.
Gambhir is already being criticised for how Sanju Samson was dropped after three games to give Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his debut cap. The T20I team’s strategy, especially stuffing the team with all-rounders who did not have a good run on the UK tour has come under scrutiny.
What Gill said about combinations for ODI World Cup 2027?
While Kohli and Rohit are part of the current setup, their participation in the ODI World Cup 2027 on South Africa soil. Ahead of the ODI series, Gill has hinted that he and the head coach are open the trying new combinations to determine the best in South African conditions.
"And as I said, we were talking about the combination. Which combination would be best for us in South Africa? Which players are there who may not be in the team now, but can help us in the future? Which bowlers are there? Which all-rounders? Which spinners? So, we were talking about all that," Gill said in the pre-match press conference.
Start of World Cup preparation
India won the ODI series against Afghanistan at home but the England ODI series will mark the start of preparation for the next year’s World Cup. It will also mark the return of Jasprit Bumrah who hasn’t played an ODI since the ODI World Cup 2023 final. But, India will be missing the services of all-rounder Hardik Pandya who is on his road to recovery.
England have already announced their playing eleven for the first. They have named two spinners -- Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid -- in the side. Will Jacks, Jacob Bethell are other spin options too.