BCCI official confirms Gautam Gambhir sacking on paper, reveals behind-the-scenes tensions

Coach of the Indian National Cricket Team Gautam Gambhir has come under immense scrutiny after the team’s poor performance in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Things are not looking good inside the locker room with the coach at the helm of things.

According to reports in PTI, it is learned that coach Gautam Gambhir and the senior players of the team are not on the same page. This has upset things in the dressing room as the players feel that the communication is not as good as it was in the days of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.

The players have not shown much confidence in Gautam Gambhir, the coach is not having good talks with the selection committee

Captain Rohit Sharma, who is known for giving clarity to all the players by talking to them, has not done the same since Gambhir took charge of the team in July. The skipper has reportedly not given clarity to some of the not-so-minor players as to why they were being dropped from the team at times.

He has learned that players who are younger than Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli but older than rookies like Harshit Rana or Nitish Reddy have not shown much confidence in Gambhir. It is also reported that the position of the coach in the selection committee is not great.

Gautam Gambhir has made some players insecure by experimenting with playing XI

Gambhir has reportedly made some players insecure by experimenting with playing XI. While its best to include Nitish Kumar Reddy worked, the handling of young batsman Shubman Gill was highly debatable after he was dropped from the squad for the Melbourne Test.

A source close to the BCCI said that with the Sydney Test around the corner and the Champions Trophy also there, if the team’s performance does not improve, then Gautam Gambhir’s place would not be secure.

If performance doesn’t improve, even Gautam Gambhir’s place would not be safe – BCCI official

A BCCI official made a bold claim that Gambhir was not the first choice for the team’s head coach as the board wanted VVS Laxman to take over the role. While calling the current coach a compromise, he explained:

“There is a Test match to be played and then there is Champions Trophy. If the performance does not improve, even Gautam Gambhir’s place would not be safe.”

“He was never the BCCI’s first choice (was VVS Laxman) and some of the big names abroad didn’t want to coach all three formats, so it was a compromise. Obviously, there were some other compulsions.”

Indian National Cricket Team is trailing by 2-1 margin at series. They won the first game in Perth and then lost in Adelaide before the draw unfolded at the Gamba. The last match in Melbourne saw Australia win the game by a margin of 184 runs. The next match will be held from January 3 in Sydney.

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