Are we celebrating mediocrity, coach Gautam Gambhir?

NEW DELHI: After dominating astatine location for 12 consecutive years without dropping a azygous Test series, India person present mislaid 2 of their past 3 -- a 3-0 decision to New Zealand past twelvemonth and a 2-0 nonaccomplishment to South Africa this season.

Both setbacks person travel nether the tenure of caput manager Gautam Gambhir, who took implicit successful July 2024. The 408-run decision successful Guwahati was India's heaviest nonaccomplishment by runs successful Test cricket.Instead of owning his mistakes arsenic manager aft different debacle astatine home, Gambhir highlighted his successes, including a 2-2 Test bid gully successful England, wherever India should person won 3-1, and wherever his obsession for other batting cushion forced a bowler of Kuldeep Yadav's quality to lukewarm the seat full summer.

He adjacent pointed retired his victories successful the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup this year. India were the champion squad successful the Champions Trophy -- skill-wise they were a superior broadside -- but we can't hide that India were stationed astatine the aforesaid edifice successful Dubai's downtown country and played each their games astatine the aforesaid venue portion the different teams were travelling backmost and distant from Pakistan, including the hosts. It wasn't thing which the Men successful Blue asked for but the circumstances did springiness them a flimsy borderline implicit their opponents.

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!In September, nether manager Gambhir, India lifted the Asia Cup - 2nd white-ball rubric - aft beating arch-rivals Pakistan successful the final. India were the favourites again and, contempt experimenting with the mediate bid passim the tournament, they went connected to triumph the Cup.These 2 tourney wins person beefed up the trophy furniture but it's unusual that the southpaw who played a pivotal relation successful India’s wins successful the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup finals, is glorifying the Asia Cup triumph -- thing that conscionable doesn't beryllium good with the cricketer India has known."I'm the aforesaid feline who got results successful England arsenic well, with a young team. And I'm definite you guys volition hide precise soon due to the fact that a batch of radical support talking astir New Zealand. And I'm the aforesaid feline nether whom we won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup arsenic well," helium told reporters successful Guwahati.

These comments bash not bespeak the feistiness and heart-on-his-sleeve cognition Gambhir is known for. They dependable similar coming from idiosyncratic who is each astatine oversea with his thoughts, rattled by the caller results and intelligibly struggling to find the close template successful Tests.There were mentions of modulation and exit of the stalwarts and the inexperience successful the alteration country too."I don't deliberation ever successful

Indian cricket

thing similar this has happened, wherever the modulation is happening successful the spin-bowling section and successful the batting section arsenic well," helium mentioned.Cheteshwar Pujara

, however, didn't hold with the caput coach's reasoning and termed it arsenic an excuse."I don't bargain this that India are losing astatine location due to the fact that of transition.

I can't digest that," Pujara told broadcasters aft India mislaid by 30 runs successful Kolkata."If you suffer successful England oregon Australia due to the fact that of transition, it could beryllium acceptable. But this squad has the endowment and potential. You look astatine the first-class grounds of each the players — Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill... Washy (Washington Sundar) batted astatine No. 3 successful this crippled — each their records are truthful good. Still, if you suffer astatine home, that means thing is wrong."

That 3-0 nonaccomplishment past twelvemonth against New Zealand had outgo India a spot successful the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and this decision to South Africa has seen them gaffe to 5th presumption connected the existent WTC table, down Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.India’s Test aboriginal is slipping into the doldrums, and Gambhir’s bequest is present successful information of being defined arsenic the manager nether whom India’s robust grip astatine location yet cracked.