Is Gautam Gambhir being taken seriously by the Indian cricket team members? Former England spinner Monty Panesar has raised an important question as Team India deals with the after-effects of the 3-1 drubbing by Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Since Gautam Gambhir became the Indian cricket team head coach, the side lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka and also got clean-sweeped by New Zealand at home in a Test series.
Needless to say, Gambhir is under intense scrutiny.
On the question of India trying out a separate format-separate coach strategy, Panesar welcomed the possibility. “I think so. I think that’s a good option,” Panesar, who has 167 wickets in Tests and 24 wickets in ODIs, told Timesofindia.com.
“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,” said the former left-arm spinner.
“He (Gambhir) averages 23 in Australia. He doesn’t average well in England either. He didn’t play the moving ball very well,” said Panesar.
The former left arm spinner added that roping in VVS Laxman won’t be a bad option.
“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.
“I think you need some sort of Indian legend, who has done really well in all conditions, to come in as a coach, because then you naturally command that respect,” Panesar added.
The veteran of 50 Tests and 26 ODIs hinted that Laxman may be taken more seriously by all.
“If Laxman tells ‘you are not going to play the ball on the up when it is swinging’, you listen, right? But with Gambhir, I’m not sure if they really take him seriously, or they’re just saying, ‘okay, yeah, we’ll listen to him, but we’re gonna go and play our natural game’,” Panesar said.
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