“What’s Abhishek Nayar’s Role?”: Sunil Gavaskar Questions Coaching Staff, Warns Gautam Gambhir

Team India’s future under the newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir is already under plenty of discussion. In the wake of the 0-3 home Test series defeat against New Zealand, Gambhir has found his and his support staff’s credentials being questioned. As the chatter around Team India’s preparations for the Australia tour gained momentum, India legend Sunil Gavaskar found the lack of clarity within India’s coaching setup amusing.

During an interview, Gavaskar expressed his lack of understanding of the current coaching team setup. The batting icon wondered as he asked what Abhishek Nayar‘s designation is in the coaching team. There’s a lack of clarity on the role of Ryan Ten Doeschate as well.

When Gavaskar was told both Ryan and Abhishek have dual roles – as assistant coaches and batting coaches – the India legend struggled to control his laughter. Then, Gavaskar urged Gambhir to be more proactive and help Indian batters understand the challenges in Australia better, having scored more runs than Nayar and Ten Doeschate in his career.

“For batting…what is the role of Abhishek Nayar in the team? Is he a batting coach or an assistant coach? Gambhir has scored a lot more runs than the two, so if he can step in and guide the players on how to bat in Australian conditions and the type of approach they should take, then we can probably perform better,” Gavaskar said during a chat on Sports Tak.

Gavaskar also fired a blunt warning to Gambhir, saying his honeymoon period has ended and now he needs to deliver the results for which he was hired.

“The honeymoon period for Gautam Gambhir has ended. We tend to forgive the mistakes made during this period, but we now want him to step in and guide the players properly in the tour of Australia,” Gavaskar said.

Some of Gambhir’s decisions have been publicly questioned by experts and former cricketers. The India opening batter’s future as the team’s head coach could be decided on the basis of how the team performs in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.