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NEW DELHI: The role of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff in managing a squad in transition has also come into attention as Indian cricket struggles with the declining performance of its two mainstays, captain Rohit Sharma and senior batsman Virat Kohli.
The team has had a tough time finding the ideal mix against an aggressive and highly motivated Australian team in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The fifth and final Test match, which India must win, will begin on Friday in Sydney.
Off-field problems are also being brought on by the on-field roller coaster, as rumors of discontent in the dressing room start to spread.
Communication isn’t as good as it was under Rahul Dravid and Ravi Shastri, and it’s been reported that Gambhir doesn’t agree with the majority of the team’s players.
The captain, Rohit Sharma, has insisted that he discusses selection-related matters with each player individually. However, it is alleged that Rohit hasn’t really explained to some of the more senior players why they were occasionally left out of the squad after Gambhir took over in July.
Rohit’s cause has not been aided by his own subpar play. However, it has also been consistently reported that Gambhir, who is seen as a more outspoken individual, has not gained much trust from the group of players, who are neither as young as Rohit or Kohli nor as inexperienced as Harshit Rana or Nitish Reddy.
“There is a Test match to be played and then there is Champions Trophy. If the performance doesn’t improve, even Gautam Gambhir’s position wouldn’t be safe,” a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Also unclear at this time is Gambhir’s relationship with the selecting committee.
Because of his tendency to change around the starting eleven, certain players on the team are feeling nervous. Nitish Reddy has performed admirably in the current BGT, but there is still disagreement over how Shubman Gill should be handled.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah has now been elevated to the ICC chief’s position and the Board won’t have a full-time replacement until after January 12. The BCCI brass will have some thinking to do after that administrative stability is established.
Shah made the decisions until he was in charge of BCCI. Roger Binny, the current president of the Board and a former Indian seamer, has not taken any calls pertaining to policy.
However, Gambhir will undoubtedly have his wings clipped if India does not do noticeably better in the Champions Trophy in February or March.
“He was never BCCI’s first choice (it was VVS Laxman) and some of the well-known overseas names didn’t want to coach all three formats, so he was a compromise. Obviously, some other compulsions were also there,” the official said.
After the 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home, Gambhir has already been subjected to some difficult questions. If the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is also lost, things could get worse for the feisty former opener from Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar.
There is already a school of thinking that says Gambhir should only be in charge of the T20 team, where he has been a successful captain and mentor for the Lucknow SuperGiants and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Whether he has been able to provide Virat Kohli with any answers regarding his constant dismissals in the off-stump channel outside is one issue that is being posed in the corridors of power. It would appear that the answer to that is a resounding negative.
“Gautam, all his life, while playing in England and Australia, would dab the ball towards slip and gully. So, he knows exactly what Kohli’s problem is. He has seen that as a player (in 2014) and as a commentator and now as a coach.
“If he knows what is wrong, he should tell him,” a former India great, with the experience of more than 90 Tests, said.
One of the important members of the support staff, who is escorted to all the venues by his personal assistant, is the subject of additional developments that the BCCI Mandarins are monitoring.
After games, the individual in issue would strut into the playing arena wearing a franchise jersey, demonstrating that he had FOP (Field Of Play) access during the IPL.
According to a prominent source, his inclusion in the box honoring BCCI members hasn’t been well received in Australia.
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