‘Years ago, I was his teammate and now he is teaching us how to play cricket’: Gambhir attacks in brutal tirade (Source: PTI)
indian coach Gautam Gambhir Team endured harsh criticism after losing 3-1 to Australia border gavaskar trophy. The loss came after India defeated New Zealand 3-0 at home in one of the biggest upsets of the past decade. Gambhir took over as India’s coach after Rahul Dravid left after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Gambhir was highly regarded in the Indian circuit after his performance in the IPL, where he led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title last year. For months, I endured starkly contrasting results.
former england cricketer Monty Panesar He launched a scathing attack on Gambhir, highlighting his below-average performances in Australia and England.
“I think it’s probably too much of a workload for Gambhir. He’s just transitioned into coaching. He’s actually a senior thinking, ‘A few years ago I was his teammate, now he’s my teammate.’ It can be difficult for players.”He taught us how to play cricket,” Panesar told Times of India.
“It can be difficult, that transition, and his performance (as a batsman) is not great in Australia or England,” he added.
Panesar further questioned whether the players were taking Gambhir seriously and suggested that the BCCI should hire someone like this. VVS Luxman A person who succeeds in all situations.
“He (Gambir) averaged 23 points in Australia. He didn’t average as well in England. He didn’t play the moving ball well. The selectors said, ‘Is Gambhir serious as a coach? Will we have him focus only on ODIs and T20Is and bring in someone like VVS Laxman (as Test coach) for example? …or bring him in as a batting coach to help Gambhir. So is he. To Rahul Dravid, he succeeded in every situation,” Monty Panesar said.
“But in Gambhir’s case, are they really taking him seriously or are they just saying, ‘Okay, yeah, we’ll listen to him, but we’re going to play our natural game.’ I don’t know if it’s just that,” Panesar concluded.
Meanwhile, reports say that the BCCI is not evaluating Gambhir on his recent performances and believes Gambhir should be given ample opportunity to deliver results. The ICC Champions Trophy could be an important tournament for Gambhir and a poor performance in the tournament could jeopardize his career.