Former India opener Kris Srikkanth wants Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir to be patient during pressure situations. Srikkanth has advised Gambhir to not make hasty reforms after 2-1 defeat against
Australia in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series. Since Gambhir took India’s coaching reins in July 2024, the Men in Blue have struggled in ODI bilaterals played in overseas conditions. In August 2024, Sri Lanka hammered India by 2-0 at the former’s backyard while this year, the Aussie side bagged a 2-1 win down under.
Srikkanth, discussing Gautam Gambhir’s coaching performance in all formats, has noted that under the 44-year-old leadership, either India have been exceptional or horrendous. "India have been at the two extremes under Gambhir. The results have been either deadly or extremely horrible. That's why he shouldn't keep changing things hastily. It's important to keep the right combination. India luckily escaped in England without especially Virat Kohli and also Rohit Sharma. Of course, we did brilliantly in England overall, especially Shubman Gill and the bowlers," said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Kris Srikkanth believes Shubman Gill putting pressure on himself
Srikkanth also feels that Shubman Gill is building pressure on himself after replacing veteran Rohit Sharma in the ODI captaincy role. "Probably, he is also putting pressure on himself. He shouldn't do that and just play his game. He actually played well today but just got a superb delivery from Hazlewood. More than Shubman Gill getting himself out, it was a wicket-taking delivery that got him. But he does look to be under pressure, just observing his body language because he has replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain, while also opening alongside him," added Srikkanth.
This year, Gill has racked up 490 runs with two hundreds and a couple fifties in 11 ODIs, at an average of 49.00. These numbers are decent but do not quite suit Gill espcially as captain and he will be expected to do his job extraordinarily with bat in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa scheduled to be played at home.
