Published: Jan 13, 2025, 10:35 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 13, 2025, 10:35 PM (IST)
Former England spinner Monty Panesar made some remarks, and claimed that the team does not take their head coach Gautam Gambhir seriously. India’s recent results in Test cricket have attracted attention to Gambhir’s teaching methods. The Indian team, captained by Rohit Sharma, recently lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia 1-3 after they lost 0-3 by New Zealand.
After analyzing the results India brought out in recent times, Panesar concluded that Gambhir was given more workload than he could handle. The former spinner has added that Gambhir’s horrible results in Australia and England may have stopped him from gaining the team’s respect.
“I think so. I think that’s a good option. I think maybe the workload is too much for Gambhir. He’s just transitioned into a coach. Sometimes it can be difficult for some of the senior players who actually will be thinking, ‘Well, I was his teammate a few years ago, now he’s telling us how to play cricket’. It can be difficult, that transition, and also his record (as a batter) isn’t great in Australia or in England,” Panesar said.
Along with that, Panesar also recommended Gambhir to be assigned to coach the limited-overs team and that the legendary Indian batter VVS Laxman should be named India’s Test coach.
“He (Gambhir) averages 23 in Australia. He doesn’t average well in England either. He didn’t play the moving ball very well. I think the selectors will be thinking ‘is Gambhir taking it seriously as a coach, or should we get him to just focus on ODIs and T20Is, and maybe bring in someone like VVS Laxman, for example (as Test coach)?…Or bring him in as a batting coach to help Gambhir. He’s similar to Rahul Dravid. He’s been successful in all conditions,” he added.
Indian team is currently preparing for series against England at home grounds, where Mohammed Shami will finally make a comeback to the national team, along with some other changes in the squad.
