The highly anticipated 5-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has come to a dramatic conclusion. Aside from a solitary victory at Perth, the series has been nothing short of a nightmare for the Indian cricket team in terms of results. For many fans of Indian cricket, the team’s inability to deliver under pressure and make decisive calls at critical moments has become a major talking point.
A significant portion of the blame, according to these fans, has been directed at the Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, with questions being raised about his team management strategies and decision-making during pivotal junctures of the series.
Gautam Gambhir’s coaching questioned after India’s embarrassing defeat in Sydney
For Gambhir, it has been a saga of failures and upset ever since he joined the national squad as the head coach. The former Indian batter, in the past, had lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka at home, a first for the Indian team in 27 years. The disappointment continued as he led the team to a humiliating series white-wash by New Zealand on home soil. Now, as the team went on to be dominated by the Aussies in the series, Gambhir has now come at the centre stage of fans’ fury.
The Indian head coach was reportedly disappointed with the team’s performances after their loss in Melbourne. An Indian Express report suggested that Gambhir gave players an ultimatum to stick to the game plan or else they’ll not be included in the team in the future. It was also reported that the Indian head coach wanted Cheteshwar Pujara for the series but his wishes were turned down by the Indian selectors.
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A disappointing display from India with the bat
Batting has been a consistent woe for the Indian team throughout the series. This continued in the final Test match in Sydney. The Indian team was restricted to 185 runs in the first innings and could only add 157 runs in the second innings to give the home side a target of 162 runs which the Australian batters managed to achieve comfortably for the loss of 4 wickets. Scott Boland dominated the Indian batters as he clinched 10 wickets in Sydney to become Player of the Match.
Seasoned Indian batters, particularly the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul had a silent series with the bat, which further questioned Gambhir’s capabilities as a coach. While Rahul managed to score 276 runs in the series, Virat could only score 190 runs with a batting average of 23.75. The stats are more concerning for Indian skipper with just 31 runs in 4 Test matches that he played.
Here’s how fans reacted:
𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮 Under Gambhir in (𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁/𝗢𝗗𝗜𝘀)
– After 27yrs, Lost a Bilateral ODI Series vs SL
– For 1st time, Lost 30 Wickets in a 3 match ODI Series
– After 45yrs, India Remained Winless in a Calendar Year in ODIs
– After 36yrs, India Lost Test v NZ at Home
– After… pic.twitter.com/ccjjHUusX5
— 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒔 (@Shebas_10dulkar) January 5, 2025
India is now completely out of WTC and the biggest
पनौती is Gautam Gambhir
After the departure of #RahulDravid, India is losing matches everywhere and #ViratKohli𓃵 or #RohitSharma ,both these batsmen are not able to score runs at all#INDvAUS#AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/XVuqlSYP3F
— Rahul Gupta (@RahulGu04197245) January 5, 2025
Gautam Gambhir Era is destroyed everything for India 🤡
But still, PR must continue 💀#INDvsAUS #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/67HTDD0XAK
— Manjeet Ghoshi (@ghoshi_manjeet) January 5, 2025
India won a world cup last year, team is almost same, only Rahul Dravid retired, we got a new coach Gautam Gambhir, and suddenly we started losing at home against New Zealand and now losing against Australia.
Why no one is talking about failure of Gambhir. I hope there is a…
— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) January 5, 2025
Gambhir just does not know enough to be the head coach of a top test cricket team.
When he said “we’re going to look at the pitch and select the XI”, I’d have expected him to select 4 Frontline pacers.
Terrible management. Terrible plans. Hope he accepts his faults and resigns.
— archith (@InswinginMenace) January 5, 2025
Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja should be forced into retirement
Shubman Gill should be dropped
Virat Kohli should be given one last chanceGautam Gambhir should be sacked with immediate effect, he’s been as big a burden as Rohit Sharma, never seen a worst coaching performance.
— Zaan (@OnlyZaan) January 5, 2025
India needed 3 wins from 8 Tests to qualify for the WTC, but we lost 6 out of 8. Despite this, commentators are praising only Bumrah, while the team shows no remorse for their performance.
Gautam Gambhir, as a coach, contributed little, focusing more on press conferences to…
— Sagar Khandelwal (@Khandelw13Sagar) January 5, 2025
Someone tell Gautam Gambhir to stop portraying himself as some martyr. Non performer of epic proportions as a coach. Stop bullshittung during pcs and own up if tactical blunders as coach and these shitty team selections
— Amit (@nottheamit) January 5, 2025
The real culprit behind India’s defeat is coach Gautam Gambhir.
Whose idealistic and aggressive attitude pushed the winning Indian cricket team towards defeat.
1- We lost the series to Bangladesh
2- We lost the home test series to New Zealand#AUSvIND #INDvAUS #GautamGambhir— sudhir kumar (@itsofficialsk) January 5, 2025
Also Read: Fans go wild as Australia demolishes India in Sydney Test to clinch a memorable 3-1 series victory | Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
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