Head coach Gautam Gambhir is in the soup after India's embarrassing 0-2 whitewash against South Africa at home, following their record 408-run defeat in the second Test in Guwahati on November 26. This historic loss makes South Africa the only team to have whitewashed India twice in Tests on Indian soil—their first such clean sweep in 25 years, while simultaneously registering India's biggest defeat at home in terms of runs. The embarrassment is compounded by the fact that Gambhir, having overseen a 0-3 home whitewash against New Zealand last year, becomes the first Indian coach to experience two such failures.
Gautam Gambhir braves tough questions after India's Test series whitewash
During the post-series press conference, Gambhir attempted to handle the mounting criticism by shifting the focus to player accountability. He repeatedly emphasised that the team does not need flamboyant players right now and stated that the repeated batting collapses were occurring because some batters lacked an effective backup plan.
Gambhir was critical of players who were stubborn about their style when the situation demanded a different approach. While he named no one, his comments were widely interpreted as a critique of stand-in captain Rishabh Pant, who perished attempting a wild slog at a vulnerable time, when India were 105/4. This accountability issue was further highlighted by Dhruv Jurel's dismissal, who perished for a duck off 11 balls after playing a careless pull shot against Marco Jansen.
Start prioritising Test cricket if we are really serious about it: Gambhir
Addressing the broader question of improvement, Gambhir spoke bluntly, asserting that everyone connected to the Indian setup must take red-ball cricket seriously and commit fully, noting that players must not treat the Test format the same way they approach white-ball games.
“Start prioritizing Test cricket if we are really serious about it. Everyone needs to be a stakeholder. If we want Test cricket to flourish in India, we need a collective effort. Just blaming players or support staff won’t help. And as I said, we can’t put things under the carpet. Come white-ball formats, if you get runs there and suddenly forget what you did in red-ball cricket, that should never happen,” Gambhir said in the post-match press conference.
“Red-ball cricket requires different skills. And more importantly, it needs tough characters. You don’t need the most skillful or flamboyant players; you need tough characters with limited skills who succeed regardless of conditions,” he added.
'Accountability is important—but more than that, it’s care'
Gambhir also pointed towards the players' approach and mindset, especially their decisions in crunch situations. When directly asked whether India's repeated batting collapses were due to technical flaws or something deeper, Gambhir clarified that the issue was largely mental. He stressed that some players struggled to read match situations effectively and were unable to adjust their game when the team desperately needed stability. Ultimately, he spoke about the crucial importance of players truly caring about the team and the dressing room environment, concluding that accountability is an innate quality that cannot be taught like a regular cricketing skill.
“It comes from care—how much you care about the dressing room and the team. Accountability and game situation cannot be taught. Yes, you can talk about skills, work on skills, and discuss the mental aspect—but when you go in, you must put the team ahead of yourself. If someone thinks, "This is how I play; I don’t have a plan B," then you will get these kinds of collapses," he further stated.
"Accountability is important—but more than that, it’s care. How much you care about Indian cricket and the people in the dressing room. From 95 for 1 to 120 for 5—that’s not technical. It’s mental. It’s about how much Test cricket means to all of us. We need to keep thinking about what needs to be done and where we can get better. Individually and collectively,” Gambhir concluded.