Kolkata : As per reports, newly appointed Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir is under BCCI’s scanner after shambolic 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand at Home. They’re likely to curb his powers that he gained early becoming Head coach.
According to PTI, Gambhir’s fate depends on outcome of India’s performance in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy in November, where they need to win with 5-0/4-0/4-1 margin.
Provided an opposite outcome, BCCI could curb the wings of Gambhir, having free hand in selection matters, unlike his predecessors, Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.
Some of the concerns raised against Gambhir, according to the report, has been his insistence on a rank turner in Mumbai for the third Test against New Zealand despite it being no secret that the Indian batting line-up has increasingly become vulnerable against spin over the last few years.
Moreover, questions have also been raised on a few of his tactical calls during the recent home series like the decision to send Mohammed Siraj as night-watchman on the second evening of the third Test and Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings.
According to the BCCI rules, head coaches have no say in selection matters, which was often raised by Shastri, both during his tenure and following the end of his successful stint, and his successor Dravid. But the board made an exception, considering the importance of the Australia tour, and allowed Gambhir to be part of the selection meeting.
“Gautam Gambhir was given access which his predecessors Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid didn’t have. The BCCI’s rule book doesn’t allow coaches to be a part of the selection committee meetings, but for Australia tour selection meeting, an exception was made.
The head coach was allowed to attend considering the magnitude of the tour,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
More recently, PTI reported last month that Gambhir insisted on Harshit Rana’s selection for the Australia Test series despite having played only nine First-Class games, which raised quite a few eyebrows. Moreover, there were questions raised as the Delhi pacer was not set for the India A tour in Australia as he rather played a Ranji Trophy game at home against Assam before practising with the India team in Mumbai ahead of the third New Zealand Test.
Earlier, after becoming head coach, Gambhir took some key decisions with his independence like choosing Surya Kumar Yadav over veteran Hardik Pandya as T20I captain, appointing foreign coaches Ryan Ten Doeschate and Morne Morkel as Assistant and Bowling coaches respectively.
He also influenced selection of Nitish Reddy in limited overs format, claiming him to be future replacement of Hardik Pandya.
Gambhir faced 1st blooper with India being whitewashed against Sri Lanka in ODI Series 2-0. India also got whitewashed by New Zealand 3-0 in Home Test series for 1st time since 2000 and are on the verge of getting disqualified from World Test Championship 2025 final. They dropped to number 2 at points table.
Therefore, as per sources, Gambhir’s of independent selection will depend on Border Gavaskar Trophy series. India need to win 4 out of 5 Matches to officially qualify for final of World Test Championship 2025,the tournament, which India ended as runner ups in previous 2 occasions.
Further reports added that fate of senior players with likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin will also depend on their performance and outcome in Border Gavaskar Trophy. Any worse outcome could mean them losing their spots from the team.
