Afghanistan wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz backed India head coach Gautam Gambhir, who is facing a lot of criticism after India's 2-0 Test series whitewash against South Africa. Notably, India suffered two Test series whitewashes on home soil in the last 12 months since Gautam Gambhir's appointment as a head coach.
Gurbaz backed Gambhir
Gurbaz, who represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) when the franchise lifted their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 2024 under Gambhir's mentorship, said that Gambhir and other members of the Indian support staff deserve respect because they are the legends of the game, and whatever he is doing, he is doing great.
"His cricketing experince is more than mine so I don't want to talk about his coaching staff. They are experienced people. They are great legends. I don't allow myself to talk about them. The people who talk about them, behind them, that's something which we need to understand that we don't deserve to talk bad about him. Whatever he is doing he is doing great" Gurbaz told Sports Tak.
India's performance under Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir, who was announced as Rahul Dravid's sucessor to coach India in 2024 after the team's T20 World Cup 2024 win has had a successful run in white-ball formats (T20Is and ODIs), winning the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup with a high win rate. However, his tenure in Test cricket has been challenging, marked by several significant losses and a low win percentage. In Tests, Team India suffered a three-Test match series whitewash against New Zealand, after that Australia defeated India 3-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India managed to win just one Test series in their last three assignment, that to against West Indies, who are currently at rock bottom of the cricket rankings.