BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla has dismissed all rumours claiming that Gautam Gambhir can be sacked as Team India's Test coach. This comes after multiple media reports had claimed that BCCI had approached VVS Laxman for the role of Test coach after the Men in Blue had suffered a series whitewash against South Africa at home.
There has been a lot of criticism around Gambhir when it comes to Test cricket as the team hasn't been able to rack up positive results under his guidance. Not only did they record series whitewashes at home to both New Zealand and South Africa, but also lost the Border-Gavaskar series to Australia by 3-1. Gambhir has lost five home Tests so far, the most for any Indian head coach and he is also the only Indian head coach to be whitewashed twice in a home series.
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However, despite his dismal record in red-ball cricket, Shukla backed Gambhir and clarified that there is no plan to remove him as the head coach.
“I want to make it very clear regarding the speculation circulating in the media about head coach Gautam Gambhir. The BCCI secretary (Devajit Saikia) has also made it very clear that there is no plan to remove or bring in a new head coach for India," Shukla told ANI.
Saikia's remarks on the rumours
Earlier, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had also come out in defense of Gambhir and had rubbished all rumours claiming that they are looking to appoint a new head coach for India in Tests.
"This is totally incorrect news going on. This is totally speculative news. Some very reputed news agencies are also flashing the news. There is no truth to it. BCCI straight away denies. People can think all they want, but BCCI has not taken any steps. This is somebody's figment of imagination; there is no truth in it, and I cannot say anything except that this is factually incorrect and baseless news," Saikia had told ANI.
Gambhir and India's next assignment
Meanwhile, Gambhir and Team India's next international assignment will be a three-match ODI and five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The Men in Blue will be hosting the Black Caps and the tour will commence from January 11 with the first ODI set to be held at the Vadodara International Cricket stadium in Gujarat.