New Delhi: As transition looms for India in Tests, former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has urged head coach Gautam Gambhir to figure out if he is happy with the current set of players in the longest format. Gambhir has had a nightmarish start to his tenure as India’s head coach in Tests with back-to-back series defeats against New Zealand and Australia.
India suffered a humiliating 0-3 whitewash in the Test series against New Zealand at home before losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 1-3 against Australia. The back-to-back series defeats also ensured India were knocked out of the race for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final. India missed out on a place in the WTC final for the first time since the tournament’s inception.
Despite India’s woeful show in Test cricket under head coach Gambhir, Karthik believes the former India batter should be cut some slack and needs to be given time to help the team bounce back. Karthik said Gambhir has found decent success in white-ball cricket but admitted it has not been easy for the ex-KKR mentor to fill in the shoes of former India head coach Rahul Dravid.
“I think, when it comes to Gautam Gambhir, you got to cut him some slack a little bit because I think he has come in at a very tough time. Post a successful regime of Rahul Dravid, it’s never easy to fill those shoes,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.
“He has found success, an immense success in T20 cricket, where he’s had a lot of young boys. He’s been able to have, I would dare say, a massive influence over them. But in Test cricket, he has had the going very hard,” he added.
‘Is he happy with the current set of players?’
Karthik has advised Gambhir to figure out if he is happy with the current set of players in the Test squad and if they are aligned with his thought process on how India can regain their dominant position in the longest format in future. Karthik’s comments come at a time when there have been questions raised on the future of senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Tests.
“I think the biggest decision for him to make is, is he very, very happy with his current set of players? Is he able to influence them over decision-making? Are they aligned with his thought process? What is his ideology of how the Test team should look? And are these players fitting in? If that is the case, great. If not, then you have to obviously figure out what is the best way moving forward,” said Karthik.
Though India are preparing for a transition in Tests, an immediate decision on Rohit’s future was not taken in BCCI’s review meeting which took place in Mumbai on Saturday. Rohit’s spot in the Test squad is under the scanner after his poor show in the Australia series where he finished with an abysmal 31 runs in 3 Tests as India lost two out of three Tests that he captained in.
The BCCI has decided not to take a hurried decision keeping the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 in mind as the board felt any big decision could have impacted the team negatively ahead of the all-important tournament.
Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has suggested India head coach Gautam Gambhir to figure out if he is happy with the current set of players in Test cricket as India prepare for a transition. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
