Gautam Gambhir's tenure as India's Test head coach is currently under intense scrutiny and debate, with the possibility of it being the end for him after this dismal South Africa series.
As India succumb
to another Test series defeat on home soil, Gambhir's role is under the scanner, more than ever. Since his appointment, India's Test team performance has deteriorated significantly, with the team winning only 7 out of 18 Tests, drawing 2, and losing 9.
After their horrific outing against New Zealand last year, India have suffered another shocking home series defeat at the hands of South Africa. Rishabh Pant and company have endured another series loss on home soil, thus reaching a new low.
Gambhir remains the eye of the criticism storm, as the Indian team has been hugely dissected by fans, ex-players and pundits alike.
Gautam Gambhir and his Multifaceted Test Blunders
Gautam Gambhir has failed to stamp his authority in Test cricket as head coach. And the reason behind his failure are plenty.
Strategic Blunder
A critical factor in these losses has been Gambhir's strategy of requesting spin-heavy wickets, which were intended to leverage India's strength in spin bowling but instead backfired spectacularly. India lost all Tests played on such turning tracks under Gambhir's watch and suffered repeated fourth-innings collapses with low totals, exposing major batting frailties on conditions meant to suit them.
Gambhir's insistence on spinning tracks has severely limited India's strategic flexibility and failed to maximize the strengths of their fast bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Instead of exploiting pace and seam conditions, India's home advantage has diminished, resulting in quick matches and fewer tactical options.
Communication Blunder
Further criticism points to Gambhir's public communication which many view as rigid and dismissive, attributing losses mainly to player failures rather than strategic flaws. As Shubman Gill was ruled out of the Guwahati match, Gambhir decided not to bring in a specialist right-handed batter, and the results of his bold steps have been nothing but bleak.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who were both preparing for the England Test series, had an abrupt end in the Red Ball format. A decision to remove Rohit as captain sparked the retirements of those stalwarts, and despite India drawing series 2-2 in England, their experience and guidance is sorely being missed in this Test side.
Selection Blunder
His selection policies have also been heavily criticized, with inconsistency marked by frequent chopping and changing of playing XIs, which destabilizes the team. Former players like Kris Srikkanth have openly criticized Gambhir for dropping in-form players such as Axar Patel and for experimenting excessively rather than building a stable lineup.
Players such as Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sarfaraz Khan have kept on piling runs, but their selection remains out of reach till now. Mohammed Shami, despite fitness, remains out of sight. On the other hand, the push for Harshit Rana to become an all-format player has backfired, while playing Sai Sudharsan extensively has not yielded anythin significant.
Gautam Gambhir's Lows for India in Tests
- First head coach to suffer two clean sweeps in Home Test series
- Head coach with India's heaviest defeat in Test cricket (408 runs vs South Africa)
- Losing Border Gavaskar Trophy in 10 years, losing to South Africa at home after 25 years
Is it the end for Gautam Gambhir?
India's continued poor results at home, a stage where they were once invincible, underline the failure of the current coaching blueprint. And as things move further south, a split-coaching system may be on the horizon. Gambhir has mentored the team well in the white ball format, with Champions Trophy and Asia Cup T20 victories. The team also won the T20I series in Australia recently and so far, his job seems safe till the T20 World Cup, but as India returns to Test cricket in the second half of 2026, he may not be at the helm.
