India head coach Gautam Gambhir did not hold back on Saturday, dismissing social media theories about “split coaching” as “surprising” and urging opinion-makers to stick to their own domains.
The remarks came after India’s recent 0-2 Test series defeat against South Africa, which sparked calls from some cricketing figures including IPL team owner Parth Jindal, to consider appointing separate coaches for red-ball and white-ball formats.
Gambhir highlighted that the context of the Test series was being overlooked. “Look, there were a lot of talks because the results didn’t go our way. But the most surprising thing is that no media or journalist even mentioned that our first Test in Kolkata was played without our captain Shubman Gill, who missed batting in both innings due to a neck injury,” he said during the post-match press meet after India clinched the ODI series 2-1.
The former Indian opener made it clear that critics commenting on matters outside their expertise were overstepping. “Some people also said things that have nothing to do with cricket. An IPL team owner even wrote about split coaching. It’s very important for people to stay in their domain. If we don’t go into someone’s domain, they don’t have the right to come into ours,” Gambhir added.
Defending his record as red-ball coach, Gambhir stressed the challenges India faced during the transition period. “I don’t give excuses in press conferences, but the facts need to be understood. Losing a captain who is also your main batter in red-ball cricket against a team like South Africa makes results difficult, especially with limited experience. Yet no one even talked about it and all the discussion was about wickets or other things,” he noted.
(By PTI Inputs)
