Former India batter Suresh Raina has defended national head coach Gautam Gambhir amid criticism, stating that the team’s recent poor performance in home Tests should not be blamed on the support staff; instead, players must take responsibility for the results.
India, having been unexpectedly whitewashed at home by New Zealand last year, are now facing another potential debacle in the ongoing series against South Africa after losing the first game of the two-match series.
“Gauti bhaiya (Gautam Gambhir) has worked really hard and he is not at all at fault. The players have to work really hard and play well. Under him we have been doing great in the white-ball format where we just won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this year,”
Raina was quoted as saying to PTI.
“The players have to score, the coach can only guide, advise and give support to the players,” he said at the Indian Softball Cricket League’s jersey launch, where he was named the event’s brand ambassador.
Raina dismissed suggestions that Gambhir’s position as head coach is in jeopardy due to the recent poor home Test record.
“If they (the players) are facing any issues, they must be communicating to the coach that this is the issue. If the players do well then the coach will be also applauded. But if the team is not doing well, it should not be that the coach should be sacked from his post,” he said.
“I have played with Gautam bhaiya, he loves Indian cricket team, he loves cricket, I have played and won the World Cup with him. So, he has done really well for the country and it is the players’ responsibility to do well,” he added.
Play Domestic Cricket
Regarding criticism of India’s selection choices in the ongoing series, Raina emphasised that domestic cricket performances should be the benchmark.
“They should play domestic cricket regularly and do well there, if they do well that will automatically reflect in their performances at the international level,” he said.
He also pointed out the challenges of modern cricket, including three different formats and a hectic schedule, which affect performance.
“Also the planning of the series can be better because you have to quickly switch formats from white ball and suddenly you are playing red-ball cricket again so the players I believe have less time in hand.
“The players should also improve their application in the middle, I hope this all is getting noticed…,” he said.
Raina expressed his eagerness for the ODI series between the two sides starting November 30, where senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be in action.
“Ro-Ko (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) will be back, yes. They did well in Australia and will surely strengthen the ODI squad against South Africa. Both of them are great ambassadors for world and Indian Cricket,” he said.
“When they’ll be in the side then the atmosphere will be different, Rishabh Pant is also back after a while so it will be fun to watch the ODI series,” Raina added.
(With inputs from Agencies)
