Ex-India Star's Brutal Swipe At Gautam Gambhir After South Africa Test Series Loss: "Hurting Us"
India head coach Gautam Gambhir has come under heavy scrutiny after the series sweep at the hands of the Proteas.
Former India batter Mohammed Kaif has slammed the team management following the 2-0 Test series defeat to South Africa at home. India head coach Gautam Gambhir has come under heavy scrutiny after the series sweep at the hands of the Proteas. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif suggested that the ones running the team are clueless about what they are doing. The 44-year-old opined that the management's short-term approach is badly hurting the team. He also blasted the management for forcing senior players into early retirement.
"There is no simple answer for this. There are 2-3 answers for this and everyone knows it. I feel the ones who are running the team they don't know what is going wrong. The ones from the outside know what is wrong. When India lost the first Test on a turning track, the strategy was changed only after one match. They played on a better track in Guwahati where there was a bit of a grass. This short-term planning is hurting us. Senior players are absent. They told Ravichandran Ashwin that we won't be able to find a place for you in the eleven, so he retired," said Kaif.
Kaif pointed out that while the team management has phased out the seniors, the players who have replaced them are finding it hard to get consistent runs in the team. "Hardly any batter could find their feet in India against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Washington Sundar was brought but he is not even half the bowler of what they were. Seniors were removed but they are not able to compensate for them. Even the new players are not being given consistent chances. So, there is not one thing to pinpoint here. It is a mix of several things going wrong," he added.
Gambhir has now become the only Indian coach since the start of the new millennium under whose tenure the India national cricket team has lost five Tests at home, a staggering indictment for a side that had turned home advantage into an impregnable fortress over the last two decades. The 408-run drubbing of India, the heaviest home Test defeat by margin of runs, ensured a humbling clean-sweep for South Africa.
(With PTI Inputs)
India Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team
Gautam Gambhir