Goutam Gambhir was not BCCI’s first choice as head coach; it was a ‘compromise’!

When Indian cricket is struggling with the poor form of its two great players, captain Rohit Sharma and senior batsman Virat Kohli, the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff in dealing with the period of change in the team has also become a topic of discussion.

The team has had a difficult journey in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as it has struggled to find the right combination against an aggressive and extremely strong Australian team. The visiting team will play the fifth and final Test match here from Friday, winning which is very important for it. Due to the ups and downs on the field, some problems are arising outside the field as well and discussions of unrest in the dressing room are increasing.

Gambhir’s position is not secure

It is learned that Gambhir is not on the same page with most of the players in the team and the communication is not as good as it used to be during the time of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. A senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on the condition of anonymity, ‘There is one Test match left and then there is the Champions Trophy. If the performance does not improve then Gautam Gambhir’s position will also not be safe.’ Gambhir’s equation with the selection committee is also not clear at this time. There are players in the team who are feeling insecure because of their tendency to experiment with the playing 11.

Gambhir was not BCCI’s first choice

As long as Shah was in charge of BCCI, he used to take decisions. The current chairman of the board and former Indian fast bowler Roger Binny has not been seen taking any policy decisions. But if India’s performance in the Champions Trophy to be held in February-March is poor then it’ll put Gambhir in a dire situation. The BCCI official said, ‘He was never BCCI’s first choice (VVS Laxman was) and some well-known foreign names did not want to become coaches of all three formats so he was a compromise. Obviously there were some other compulsions also.’