Gautam Gambhir vindicated after silencing doubters who wanted him to fail in England: 'People wait to make his memes…'

Gautam Gambhir found himself under the spotlight before the England tour, coming off consecutive series defeats to New Zealand and Australia.

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has lavished praise on Gautam Gambhir for silencing his critics with India drawing the five-match Test series 2-2 against England. Gambhir found himself under the spotlight before the England tour, coming off consecutive series defeats to New Zealand and Australia. With India stepping into a transitional phase after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin, the expectations and pressure on the new head coach reached a whole new level.

Under Gautam Gambhir's guidance, India drew Test series 2-2 against England. (AP)

He also faced scrutiny for his team selections, with Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh not getting any chance on the England tour. However, with the series ending in a 2-2 draw, much of the pressure has lifted, as Gambhir has managed to silence critics—at least for the time being—and turn scrutiny into applause.

Kaif also stated that Gambhir was under immense pressure, and the critics were waiting for him to fail again and make his memes, but he silenced them by guiding India well in crunch situations.

"The most pressure on this tour was on him. As a coach, he was not as successful in Tests. I feel people were waiting that if India lost this Test, the most criticism would be on him. People wait to make his memes on social media and talk bad about him. Maybe this would have been his last in Tests as a coach if India had lost. There was that much pressure on him. But where it is due, we must praise him wholeheartedly," he said on his YouTube channel.

“Gautam Gambhir was there with a young team”

Speaking about Gambhir's tactical call to prioritise batting depth over an extra spinner in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, Kaif highlighted how that bold decision paid off, pointing to the crucial lower-order contributions from Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.

"We all said that Kuldeep must play in Bumrah's absence but Gambhir stuck to having batting depth. He wanted batting till number eight and his decision proved right. The two Tests we won, you look at Jadeja's and Sundar's roles there. As there was depth in batting, we could score runs and then the series ended in a draw as we could win. It was a good decision. He was there with a young team. I can understand how much pressure was on him," he added.