NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli's elder brother, Vikas Kohli, appeared to take a subtle swipe at the Indian team management as India endured another tough outing in the second Test against South Africa in Guwahati.

After a 30-run defeat in the series opener, India slipped to 27 for 2 in their daunting chase, still requiring 522 runs to square the series - a scenario that looks all but impossible.

In a recent post on Threads, Vikas Kohli appeared to question the decisions made by the current team management, implying that needless alterations had unsettled a setup that had long worked well for India in Test cricket.

Although he did not directly name head coach Gautam Gambhir, his remarks were widely seen as a veiled comment on the coaching staff and the changes introduced since Gambhir's appointment.

"There was a time that we played to win even in overseas conditions.... Now we are playing to save the match....even in India.. This is what happens when u try to boss around and change things unnecessary which were not broken....," Vikas Kohli wrote in the Threads post.

India's Test fortunes have dipped noticeably during Gambhir's tenure as head coach, with the side enduring more losses than wins - an uncommon trend, especially in home conditions. The batting unit has been at the heart of the slide, with the top six averaging below 30 and struggling to put together totals of 300 or more, a stark departure from the stability they once enjoyed.

The downturn has also overlapped with the recent retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two pillars of India's Test batting for more than a decade. Their absence has left a void that the current lineup has struggled to fill.

This period of inconsistency has included a 0-3 home series defeat to New Zealand last year and a 1-3 loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, a setback that also cost India a place in the World Test Championship final.