Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik reckons there is a lot of pressure on chief coach Gautam Gambhir after India suffered a 2-0 series loss against South Africa. Team India suffered a series defeat against South Africa after they were hammered by 408 runs at Guwahati.
Earlier, India had suffered a 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand in 2024 under Gautam Gambhir’s tutelage. India suffered a 30-run loss on a challenging wicket at Eden Gardens, Kolkata against the Proteas.
India were outplayed in all three departments of the game by the visitors and Temba Bavuma’s men deserve all the credit.
Kartik said on Cricbuzz, “There is a lot of pressure on poor Gambhir. But this is the same coach under whom you won the Champions Trophy and drawn in England. Yet, only two series won out of six and that was against Bangladesh and the West Indies so the pressure is mounting. When we lost 0-3 to New Zealand, we had Virat, Rohit and Ashwin and didn’t fare well. We didn’t play well at all.”
“Now this is a young team so is that an excuse or do you still say when you can win other tournaments, why not at home? We need to find the right personnel. I don’t think suddenly dropping the coach is the answer. Because it’s not as if they’ve not won under him.”
On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan could not grab his opportunity with both hands in the Guwahati Test, returning with scores of 15 and 14. Kartik said the left-hander needs to sort out his technical and temperament flaws.
“It’s about finding the right people and persisting with them and having the patience with them. That’s the way forward. I actually thought Sai Sudharsan would be a great addition to the side. But he has to work out his technical flaws and maybe even certain temperamental flaws. Today he just got into a shell or a muddle and didn’t put away balls he should have,” said Kartik (via the aforementioned source).
India and South Africa will now take on each other in a three-match ODI series.
