Legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar has strongly criticised those targeting Gautam Gambhir after another home Test series defeat. As Gambhir faces intense scrutiny following two home whitewashes in less than a year, Gavaskar questioned why people are quick to blame him now when they did not give him credit for India’s victories in the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup.
After being swept 0-3 by New Zealand last year, India suffered another major setback on Wednesday, losing 0-2 to South Africa. The Proteas handed India their biggest-ever defeat by runs at home, a crushing 408-run loss in the second Test in Guwahati, and secured their first Test series win in the sub-continent in 25 years.
Responding to a question about whether India should switch to a split-coaching model, the 76-year-old Gavaskar argued that many successful teams operate with only one coach across formats and stressed that players, not just the coach, should be held responsible. Speaking to India Today, he said:
“Not necessarily. You have coaches, for example, Brendon McCullum is a coach for all three formats for England. A lot of countries have a coach who is there for all formats. But we tend to only look and point a finger at somebody when the team has lost.”
“You’re not prepared to give him credit. If you’re not prepared to give him credit for the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup win, then please tell me why you want to blame him for the team out there on that 22-yard, not doing well. Why are you blaming him?”
Gavaskar Blames Market Forces For SA Series Loss
Sunil Gavaskar also voiced his frustration over the current match scheduling, saying that the quick gaps between games leave the team with far less preparation time than they need. He further stated:
“That is the way the market forces are. The market forces at the moment mean that India is a team that is asked to in other countries just about every year because that boosts their TV revenue. See, last year they played 5 Test matches in Australia. And what happened this year again? We went to Australia in the middle of our home season.”
“I think that is the thing that India needs to be very strong about, that Australia doesn’t go anywhere during their home season. India should also say to other teams, ‘Look, our season is more important. You want to play against us, you come to India’.”
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