The BCCI has conducted an exhaustive review of India’s shock 0-3 debacle against New Zealand with selection of rank turner for the Mumbai Test, resting Jasprit Bumrah and Gautam Gambhir’s coaching style were discussed. Skipper Rohit Sharma, chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gambhir were in attendance along with BCCI secretary Jay Shah and president Roger Binny. Gambhir joined the meeting online. It has been learnt that the questions were asked about certain decisions taken by the team management during the course of the series.

There were also discussions about Gambhir’s style of coaching which is very different from his predecessor Rahul Dravid and how the team is getting used to it.

“It was a six hour marathon meeting which was obviously on cards after such a debacle. India are going on a tour of Australia and the BCCI would obviously like to ensure that the team is back on track and would like to know how the think-tank (Gambhir-Rohit-Agarkar) are going about it,” a senior BCCI source privy to development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

It was learnt that BCCI mandarins weren’t exactly happy that pace spearhead and team’s vice-captain Bumrah was rested for the third Test and why the team opted for a rank turner after being beaten on a similar kind of surface in Pune.

“Bumrah’s absence was discussed although it was a precautionary move. Opting for a rank turner despite India not faring well on these tracks are some of the issues that came up for discussion,” the source informed.

The trio were told to give suggestions on how corrective measures can be taken.

It can’t be confirmed whether Gambhir’s coaching style was questioned or not but it is understood that some people in the Indian team think tank aren’t on same page with the chief coach.

The selections of T20 specialist all-rounder Nitish Reddy and rookie pacer Harshit Rana, with only 10 matches in Ranji Trophy have not been unanimous to say the least.

The Indian team will be leaving for Australia in two batches on November 10 and 11.

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has reacted to the criticism he has received for condemning Chennai Super Kings’ move of letting New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra practice at their academy ahead of the side’s recently concluded Test series in India. Ravindra emerged as the highest scorer for New Zealand in the Test series as the visitors registered a historic 3-0 whitewash over India. Ravindra was part of the CSK squad in IPL 2024 and the franchise allowed him to practice at their academy in order to get acclimatised to the Indian conditions. Uthappa was highly critical of CSK’s decision and said that when the country’s interest in at stake, a line should be drawn by the teams.

“Rachin Ravindra came here and practised at the CSK Academy. CSK is a beautiful franchise that will always look after its franchise players but a line has to be drawn where the interest of the country comes ahead of your franchise players, especially when he is a foreign player and comes and plays against our country,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

“I am not surprised that CSK always go over and above for their players but somewhere in that kindness, maybe I am not saying the right thing, I absolutely love CSK, but when it comes to the country, there should be a line somewhere where we do not cross that line,” he added.

But there are some who didn’t agree with Uthappa.

“I am glad we can have an exchange of ideas even while disagreeing. Do you guys want to discuss this further over a Live session? Let me know in the comments.”

Yesterday, I posted a video where I shared my thoughts about Rachin Ravindra training at the Super Kings Academy ahead of the Tests in India. A lot of you seemed to disagree, which is absolutely fine!

I am glad we can have an exchange of ideas even while disagreeing. Do you… pic.twitter.com/QxWiMhVGxb

— Robbie Uthappa (@robbieuthappa) November 7, 2024

Many of the fans didn’t agree with the opinion of Uthappa, while other criticised him for his stance. Reacting to the comments, the ex-India star said, “Yesterday, I posted a video where I shared my thoughts about Rachin Ravindra training at the Super Kings Academy ahead of the Tests in India. A lot of you seemed to disagree, which is absolutely fine!

The ICC has rated Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium pitch, used for India’s Test match against Bangladesh, as “very good” with other four home centres used during the season being deemed “satisfactory”. In fact, all the three Test venues used against New Zealand — Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune’s Gahunje and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai — just about managed “satisfactory” ratings from the ICC match referee. However, Kanpur’s Green Park stadium’s outfield has been rated “unsatisfactory” by the ICC match referee Jeff Crowe.

The government-owned stadium’s poor drainage system led to only two full days of play against Bangladesh and despite the pitch being rated “satisfactory”, the outfield didn’t escape the wrath of the former Kiwi international.

The high-scoring tracks at Gwalior, Delhi and Hyderabad used for Bangladesh T20Is were rated “very good”, as they conformed to the requirements of the shortest format.

However, the Indian team management, the BCCI and local curators wouldn’t be too amused to know that former Australia opener David Boon couldn’t rate any of the Test match tracks used against New Zealand beyond “satisfactory”.

The Chinnaswamy pitch had excessive moisture that led to India being all out for 46 against New Zealand while both Pune and Mumbai tracks were “rank turners”, which didn’t strictly follow the norms prescribed for a ‘Good Test’ match wicket.

But the two tracks escaped with satisfactory ratings because of some good individual batting performances from players of both sides.

India won the Test and T20I series against Bangladesh. However, India lost the three-match Test series against New Zealand. The Test series loss against New Zealand has hurt India real bad in its ambition to qualify for the World Test Championship final. India now need to win the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia 4-0 in order to qualify for the title clash on its own.

Former Indian cricket team batter Robin Uthappa criticised Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings for allowing New Zealand star Rachin Ravindra to practice at their academy ahead of the Test series against India. Ravindra emerged as the highest run-scorer for New Zealand as the visitors completed a 3-0 whitewash in the series. Ravindra was part of the CSK squad in IPL 2024 and the franchise allowed him to practice at their academy in order to get acclimatised to the Indian conditions. Uthappa was highly critical of CSK’s decision and said that when the country’s interest in at stake, a line should be drawn by the teams.

“Rachin Ravindra came here and practised at the CSK Academy. CSK is a beautiful franchise that will always look after its franchise players but a line has to be drawn where the interest of the country comes ahead of your franchise players, especially when he is a foreign player and comes and plays against our country,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

“I am not surprised that CSK always go over and above for their players but somewhere in that kindness, maybe I am not saying the right thing, I absolutely love CSK, but when it comes to the country, there should be a line somewhere where we do not cross that line,” he added.

Rachin Ravindra described his team’s 3-0 Test series victory over India as something special that is difficult to fully quantify. New Zealand secured a historic Test series victory in India with a dramatic 25-run win at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel took 6-57 as India were bowled out for 121 in a chase of 147, as New Zealand also became the first visiting side to complete a landmark clean sweep in a three-Test series against India.

“It was unbelievable. On the field, it was a different feeling. I think it’s nothing like I’ve quite experienced before. Just seeing everyone’s elation, running towards each other. Ajaz’s sixth wicket, and being in Mumbai and seeing all the boys together in a huddle jumping around. It’s hard to quite quantify, but it’s pretty special,” said Ravindra on SEN Radio.

(With IANS inputs)

It has been a tough year for Rohit Sharma when it comes to Test cricket. The Indian cricket team skipper once again failed to impress as his side slumped to a humiliating 0-3 Test series defeat in Mumbai on Sunday. Rohit scored 18 off 18 balls in the first innings before he was dismissed by Matt Henry while his stay at the crease ended in 11 balls during the second innings. The star batter has struggled massively to score runs in red-ball cricket and former Indian cricket team star Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out the ‘real problem’. In an interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar dissected Rohit’s batting and said that instead of making the proper connection, he has been trying to clear the boundary with pure strength.

“I will never say that he is reckless because he is finding his own way to ensure that he gets runs, to get the team to win. He clearly doesn’t trust his defence anymore, you could see that, there was a LBW appeal and that must have just made him feel unsettled ever more. So the next thing that he looks to do is counter-attack and he did that because the target wasn’t a huge one, and who knows a couple of shots here and there and he would have maybe replicated that Bangladesh run chase,” he said.

“But the shot that he played to get out was where he was trying to hit the ball into the stands rather than just make the connection. He is missing a few of his big hits. There was one in the first Test match as well, where he stepped out and tried to hit the ball out of the ground, so he is mis-hitting a lot of his attacking shots and he is not trusting his defence enough. So that is a real problem for Rohit Sharma currently,” he added.

Rohit had a disappointing series against New Zealand in the Tests. He scored 91 runs at a strike rate of 68.42 after playing all three matches of the Test series against the Kiwis.

Following the 3-0 series loss against New Zealand, Rohit became the first India captain to concede a 3-0 Test series defeat on home soil. Meanwhile, Tom Latham‘s New Zealand showcased a stupendous performance in the Tests against India and became the first team to win a long format series by 0-3 in India.

Rohit Sharma has led Team India in 21 matches in Test cricket and won 12 games. Meanwhile, he lost seven matches.

(With ANI inputs)

Indian opener Rohit Sharma is going through a tough time in Test cricket. While in captaincy he has got some unwanted records registered under his name, Rohit’s batting has also been poor. The right-handed batter scored 91 runs across six innings of the three-match Test series against New Zealand that India lost 3-0. Despite the last two matches being played on complete spin-friendly tracks, Rohit was dismissed by fast bowlers thrice out of four times. Reacting to the India Test captain’s poor performance, former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has shared a piece of advice for him.

Kaneria suggested India head coach Gautam Gambhir to change Rohit’s batting order. He said that the Rohit should bat at the number 3 position, not as an opener. He added that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill should open the batting for India.

“Just see if Rohit Sharma is still comfortable opening or if he should come in one-down and change his order a little bit because he has been struggling with the track in India. In the recent series, Southee got him out twice, and the ball will move more over there in Australia, so you have to see how you go with that,” said Kaneria as quoted by Times of India.

“The Indian top order should be Jaiswal and Shubman as openers, Rohit coming one-down, and Virat two-down. They have to manage that. Gambhir needs to manage the long Indian batting line-up, as Ashwin and Jadeja are there, so they have a deep batting line-up,” Kaneria added.

Rohit is also going through his lowest point in his Test captaincy career. Led by him, India suffered an embarrassing 3-0 clean sweep at the hands of New Zealand. This is the first time the Indian team was whitewashed in a Test series of three or more matches at home.