Former India selector Kris Srikkanth went all-out against Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday, criticising him for the constant chopping-and-changing in the team. He said that he doesn’t care if Gambhir calls it ‘trial and error’, and that his experience with the Indian team tells him that consistency is more important.
Gambhir is under extreme pressure. Under him, India have lost nine of the 18 Tests, including a home whitewash against New Zealand last year. The team is on the verge of another one, after getting itself into a precarious position in the Guwahati Test against South Africa following a big loss in Kolkata.
He brought a completely different team philosophy to his predecessors, Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, focusing more on all-rounders than
specialists. Which, in turn, earned debuts to Harshit Rana and Nitish Reddy, and sidelined Sarfaraz Khan, while reducing chances for the likes of Sai Sudharsan and Kuldeep Yadav.
“Every alternate match, someone is making a debut,” Srikkanth said in a video on his YouTube channel. “They can say trial and error. Gautam Gambhir can say whatever he wants. I don’t care. I have been a former captain and a former chairman of selectors. I know what I’m talking about. I am not talking through my hat. You need consistency,” he added.
Although only four players have made their debut under Gambhir — Rana, Reddy, Sudharsan, and Anshul Kamboj — others have been switched around frequently. For example, Washington Sundar was promoted to number three in Kolkata. Still, when number four Shubman Gill got injured, India brought in Sudharsan for three and shifted the all-rounder all the way down to number eight.
Srikkanth has been critical of Rana before, much to the chagrin of Gambhir. Now, he also criticised the selection of Reddy, questioning his credentials as an all-rounder.
“Who calls Nitish Reddy an all-rounder? Can anyone see his bowling and say he is an all-rounder? He hit a hundred in MCG, but what has he done after that? One swallow doesn’t make a summer, as they say. If Nitish Reddy is an all-rounder, then I am a great all-rounder. Does he have movement, pace? He is not some deadly batsman either. Let’s call a spade a spade. How is Nitish in the ODI team also? What has he done? Is Nitish a replacement for Hardik Pandya?! Why not Axar Patel?”
