‘We are losing, losing, losing'’: Gavaskar tears into Gautam Gambhir, Morne Morkel; says ‘questions need to be asked’
Sunil Gavaskar feels questions need to be asked of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff after India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Sunil Gavaskar feels questions need to be asked of head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff after India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3 to Australia. Ever since taking over the reins from Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir has not had a good start to his tenure.
Gambhir brought Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate as assistant coaches and Morne Morkel as bowling coach. However, fans and cricket pundits are now questioning their roles.
Under Gambhir, India first lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka and now the side have lost back-to-back Test series against New Zealand and Australia. In November 2024, India suffered a series whitewash at the hands of Kiwis and this result stunned everyone.
"I don't know about merit in having different coaches. That is something, you know, that we need to look at in a different scenario, not right now. But surely questions have to be asked of him (Gambhir) and his coaching staff. What were they doing that we had this situation where we are losing, losing, losing? Gavaskar told India Today.
"Because we have lost when we should not have in India against New Zealand. The batting over there was pretty ordinary. The batting over here has been pretty ordinary. So I do believe that I think questions need to be asked about that," he added.
‘Why plans were not executed?’
Gavaskar also questioned Morne Morkel's role in the lack of proper planning against Travis Head and Pat Cummins. He said that short balls weren't bowled to these two even when the whole world asked the Indian team to.
"Our bowling could have been better as well. We just had two bowlers. But a lot of times, the things that everybody, not just us, but including the Australians, who were talking about the kind of deliveries to be bowled to a Travis Head, to a Pat Cummins, nothing of that sort was tried. So therefore, you are going to ask the bowling coach, what was happening?" asked Gavaskar.
"And if the bowling coach said that he had also told the bowlers to do this, and the bowlers didn't do that, then you need to question the bowlers. Why the short stuff was not tried against Head? Why the short stuff was not tried against Pat Cummins? You know, there are so many questions that can be asked," he added.
After the six-wicket loss in Sydney, Gambhir said that he wants every player in the side to play domestic cricket. However, Gavaskar feels only time will tell how serious the management is regarding domestic cricket.
“Well, we will find out whether it’s lip service. There is some domestic cricket happening in the next 15 days. We will find out whether what the coach wants actually happens and what the players do. There are some players who have taken their places for granted, thinking they cannot be dropped, no matter what. Let us see if they obey the coach’s call and play. Let’s wait and see," said Gavaskar.
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