Former KKR teammate feels Gautam Gambhir’s approach isn’t “stable” for Test cricket

Gautam Gambhir never coached a team before becoming India's head coach. However, he mentored Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to IPL 2024 win.

Gautam Gambhir might have brought a fearless attitude to India’s white-ball units, but his red-ball strategies are now under the microscope. With India trailing 1-2 in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, former teammate and ex-India batter Manoj Tiwary has publicly questioned Gambhir’s thinking, especially his overreliance on all-rounders and lack of faith in specialists.

“Test cricket is a game of specialists”

Tiwary, who played alongside Gambhir in the IPL for KKR, believes the current Indian Test setup is suffering from a lack of continuity and clear direction under the new head coach.

“I have said it earlier also that Test match is a game of specialists but we’re keeping them out and trusting all-rounders more,” Tiwary told IANS.

He further highlighted how selections have been inconsistent, giving examples from the New Zealand series earlier this year. “Since the arrival of head coach (Gautam Gambhir), there is a pattern of dropping underperforming players from the squad and adding players from the outside. This we’ve seen in India-Zealand series, when we brought Washington Sundar from outside over Ashwin, who was in the squad.”

The recent selections in the England series also echo the same sentiment. India picked Sai Sudharsan for the first Test but dropped him after one failure. Karun Nair, a natural middle-order batter, was then pushed to No. 3, a position that isn’t his usual.

Harshit Rana was handed a surprise debut in Australia but is nowhere in the mix now. He was part of the Leeds Test squad but isn’t in the reckoning despite numerous injuries to other players. Instead, the management backed another newcomer, Anshul Kamboj, in Manchester. Unfortunately, Kamboj hasn’t had an exciting debut as of yet.

“On Australia tour, we played Devdutt Padikkal and Harshit Rana. Now, Harshit is missing and not among favourites anymore as we’re playing Anshul Kamboj in this Test.”

Kuldeep’s continued exclusion a thing of frustration

The most puzzling omission remains Kuldeep Yadav. Despite being India’s most threatening spinner across formats, Kuldeep hasn’t played a single away Test under Gambhir. Even on dry surfaces in Manchester, India opted for three all-rounders in Jadeja, Washington, and Shardul Thakur, leaving Kuldeep benched again. India’s bowling accepted that Kuldeep snub was due to elongate the batting department.

This “safety-first” selection strategy has drawn criticism from fans and experts alike. Ravichandran Ashwin, in a separate conversation, also slammed India’s defensive approach, hinting that picking batting all-rounders over wicket-takers is hurting the team.

Tiwary feels Gambhir’s constant changes are hurting the team’s core. He believes faith needs to be shown in players over a longer duration.

“There is no stability and he is not able to trust his players for a long duration. His thinking of playing part-time all-rounders and winning a Test match is not possible. The players who have played for a long time, including me, I’m a strong believer of specialist players.”

With India having lost eight of their 13 matches across formats under Gambhir and slipping to No.4 in the ICC Test rankings, the pressure is mounting. England, way ahead in the Manchester Test, have now all but sealed the series as well.