Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
Gautam Gambhir told to brace for hard times ahead as pressure mounts: ‘It’s going to be a tough few months’
South Africa's Temba Bavuma feels the next few months will be challenging for India head coach Gautam Gambhir.
With all that’s transpired with the Indian Test team, one man who finds himself in the middle of the storm is Gautam Gambhir. The head coach has endured a rough few months, with India getting drubbed 0-2 at home by South Africa and losing ODI series to Australia and New Zealand. Having said said, not that everything Gambhir has done has backfired. Winning the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup have been some of the boxes he has ticked, but India’s steep decline in Tests has raised concerns to the extent that in the current World Test Championship standings, the team has slipped to fifth.
An encouraging 2-2 draw in England was supposed to be the beginning of the Shubman Gill era, but two clean sweeps in a year come as a bolt out of the blue. The Indian team is clearly transitioning, and who knows it better than Temba Bavuma? A few years ago, Bavuma was in the middle of something similar as South Africa’s seniors paved the way for young talent. And in approximately six years, look where it’s gotten them. They are the reigning World Test Champions.
Gambhir’s Test woes aren’t ending soon, feels South Africa’s Test captain Bavuma. With only five Test matches lined up in 2026, including two tough assignments in New Zealand, where they last won a series in 2009/10, Bavuma expects Gambhir to prepare himself for a challenging period ahead.
“When it comes to the red-ball stuff, India are definitely a team in transition. There is nothing unique about where India find themselves in Test cricket. India coach Gautam Gambhir has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and I think he is going to have to take it as it comes. He is going to have to find a way to buy himself time in the red-ball game, and I'm of the view that the performances in white-ball cricket may assist him,” Bavuma wrote in his column for ESPNCricinfo.
“In limited-overs cricket, India have a lot of resources from which to select. The 2026 T20 World Cup is also in their favour, as it will be on home ground, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February-March. In ODIs, Kohli and Rohit will naturally take on a lot more responsibility from a performance and leadership point of view. So I think Gambhir will be okay in terms of his position. However, from a red-ball point of view, it's going to be tough for this Indian team in the near future.”
Split coaching not the way forward
With rumours doing the rounds that a separate red-ball coach is an option that the BCCI could be looking to explore – although the board denied having any such talks – Bavuma played down the idea, saying split-coaching in 2026 isn’t the way forward. The 35-year-old also mentioned that it’s unlikely that Gambhir would be shown the door since he is a long-term investment, meaning he is likely to continue till the end of his current contract.
“Some may speak more to the narrative that Gambhir should perhaps carry on with the white-ball stuff and let someone else fulfil the Test cricket duties. Splitting the red- and white-ball coaching roles was something we gave a go within the Proteas set-up back in 2023,” he added.
“At the time there was sense behind the split rule. But now having one coach across all formats works a lot better for players from a continuity point of view. Moreover, it's advantageous from a philosophy and playing style point of view. I don't think a lot of teams are going with the split-format system anymore, and to be honest, I'm not really in favour of that rule. If anything, it just confuses the players, because in one format a certain type of language is spoken and then in another format, a couple of weeks later, you need to adjust. Gambhir's contract runs through to the 2027 ODI World Cup and India just need to back him.”
T20 cricket is Gambhir’s best format, one where he’s had the most amazing results to show. And who knows? An India win at the upcoming World Cup could only leverage his status as a coach. However, Tests are where the bigger picture lies, and Bavuma won’t be surprised if Gambhir decides to hold it by the scruff of the neck.
“In terms of the way Gambhir controls his current group of Test players, I think it would be best to be clear and say: ‘Guys, it's going to be a tough few months on away tours but let's focus on the long term.’ But he is going to have to back his horses and, at some point, those horses are going to have to exit their pens and gallop for him,” he added.
