After India lost to Australia 1-3 in the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar questioned India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and his coaching staff.
In Australia, the Indian team had a difficult time and won just one of the five games in the series. The batting unit continuously failed, despite the bowlers’ occasional outstanding performances, which culminated to a series-ending loss in Sydney. Australia’s third-day chase of a meagre 162 mark prompted criticism of India’s strategy from a number of sources.
Gambhir has appointed Morne Morkel as bowling coach, Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coach, and Abhishek Nayar as assistant coach after assuming the position of head coach. Gavaskar, however, feels that the coaching staff fell short of expectations and questioned their readiness and effect on the team.
The coaching staff is aapke, right? How did your coaching staff spend their time in Australia? Your batting coach, your bowling coach… especially when we were bowled for 46 against New Zealand and how we lost the rest of the games, your batting coach. “Main koi dum nahi tha” means “no punch in the batting.” Questions should be raised about what you guys have done because our batting was weak here as well. “Why aren’t we seeing any progress?” Gavaskar asked Star Sports.
#SunilGavaskar shares his candid thoughts on how India’s coaching staff may have fallen short during the #BorderGavaskarTrophy. 🇮🇳⚡#AUSvINDonStar #ToughestRivalry #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/pHwnD3UyWR
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 5, 2025
How are you going to help Indian cricket players get better? Sunil Gavaskar
He continued by highlighting the coaching staff’s duty to handle technical problems within the squad. He disclosed that the hitters’ performance fell short of expectations and enquired about the coaching staff’s efforts to address the issue.
We would comprehend if you claimed that our batsmen were unable to handle the excellent bowling from Australia. When faced with strong bowling, even the best batters struggle. Tell me, however, what the coaching staff has done when there isn’t any good bowling. If you want to know if we should alter the batting order, I’ll ask if we should alter the coaching staff. Before travelling to England, we have two to three months,” Gavaskar continued.
Gavaskar said that the coaches should be held responsible for the team’s recurrent failures against strong opposition, and he thought that a review of their duties should be conducted prior to the upcoming match in England.
“What have you (the coaching staff from India) done?” I’ll also ask. How are you going to help Indian cricket players get better? You won’t get anything by throwing down. Their temperament and technique needed to be improved, but you haven’t done that. Thus, be careful to interrogate the batters who haven’t scored as well as the coaching staff about their actions. Then Gavaskar said.
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