Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir has said that the decision on his future with the national team as head coach lies in the hands of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after another poor Test outing in home conditions. The South Africa series loss was India's second one at home in Test cricket in their last three outings with Gambhir at the helm.
Gambhir held himself as much accountable as the team. He also pointed out India's slump in their first innings during the Guwahati Test and
emphasised that he will not point out any specific individual's error while talking about India's poor display.
"It is up to the BCCI to decide my future. But I am the same guy who got you results in England and was the coach for the Champions Trophy. The blame lies with everyone and starts with me. We need to play better. From 95/1 to 122/7 [in India's first innings of the second Test] is not acceptable. You don’t blame any individual or any particular shot. Blame lies with everyone. I have never blamed individuals and won’t do it going forward," stated Gambhir during the post-match press conference.
Standby skipper Rishabh Pant wanted the thumping 408-run loss at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium to serve as a learning experience for the team. He also highlighted how India did not make the most out of their advantageous circumstances throughout the series.
“We need to take the learning and stick as a team. We needed to be clear with our mindset. In the future, we need to learn from it and get better. They played better cricket, cricket demands that you need to capitalise as a team. And we did not do that and that cost us the whole series. The positive will be focusing on our own plan and that’s what we will take from this series," noted Pant.
India's series loss to South Africa was their first Test series defeat against the Proteas at home in 25 years. They lost the series-opening contest in Kolkata by 30 runs. However, the 408-run loss in Guwahati came as a massive blow to the team.
Three ODIs and five T20Is lie ahead of the hosts now. It will be interesting to see how the white-ball teams perform against South African. Gill, who has been sidelined due to a nerve-related neck injury, will not lead the ODI team, with KL Rahul set to captain the 50-over unit. Suryakumar Yadav take charge of the T20I squad.
