Gautam Gambhir Deserves Blame As India's Home Test Fortress Collapses. 5 Reasons Why

India's once-impenetrable home Test record has crumbled. Head coach Gautam Gambhir's tenure with the Indian Test team began with the 0-3 home sweep against New Zealand, but the twin defeats against South Africa have laid bare the issues. With a shocking run of home defeats, an unimaginable scenario just a few years ago, the spotlight has been fixed on Gambhir, who has played a big role in the change in mindset and philosophy this team holds. While his success in white-ball cricket is undeniable, the decline of the Test side, coupled with a series of controversial decisions, has led many to hold him directly responsible for the chaos.

The core of the criticism lies in a profound shift away from the stability and specialist focus that defined India's previous era of dominance. For Gambhir, the way forward is with multi-skilled players, a change that not many experts of the game agree with.

1. The Ashwin Retirement Controversy: A Specialist Overlooked

One of the most damaging accusations relates to the abrupt retirement of India's second-highest Test wicket-taker, Ravichandran Ashwin. While Ashwin himself denied being forced out, the timing and surrounding events raised uncomfortable questions.

The narrative suggests that Gambhir's push to introduce and promote all-rounders like Washington Sundar and others into the Test squad created an environment where the specialist, veteran spinner felt undervalued and his role diminished. For a coach known for championing players, the perception that he indirectly hastened the exit of a modern legend is a bitter pill for many fans.

2. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's Exits

Perhaps the most significant blow to the team's balance came with the Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Though both players publicly stated their decisions were personal, persistent reports suggest that the duo were keen to continue their red-ball careers, even following the humbling Border-Gavaskar Trophy series defeat.

Critics allege that Gambhir cultivated an atmosphere designed to sideline these powerful senior figures, viewing their influence and potential to question his tactical decisions as a threat.

The sudden void left by two generational batters has forced the team into a panicked and premature rebuild, robbing the side of the experience required to navigate difficult transitions. Had Kohli and Rohit stayed with the team to nurture skipper Gill and other newcomers, the home fortress might have stayed intact.

3. Batting Order Turned Into Musical Chairs

Gambhir's tenure has been defined by a baffling lack of stability in the batting lineup, especially at the crucial No. 3 spot, historically anchored by giants like Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara. Players like Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, and, most recently, all-rounder Washington Sundar, have been shunted in and out, preventing anyone from settling into the role.

While Gill, Sudharsan and Nair were looked at as permanent solutions, Sundar's promotion was the most controversial, considering it can never be considered as a long-term solution.

Gambhir's strategy of including multiple all-rounders has also received plenty of flak recently. The additions have come at the expense of specialist batters, and this shift has been heavily criticised. The insistence on fielding players who may not earn a place on either batting or bowling merit alone has created an unbalanced XI lacking depth, which has been criticised repeatedly.

4. Constant Chopping and Churning

Under Gambhir, the hallmark of the Indian team has been a constant chopping and changing in the Playing XI. While a new coach has the right to test combinations, this approach seems to have gone beyond accepted experimentation.

Gambhir's time has seen a high turnover of players, leading to a visible lack of rhythm and confidence within the squad. As former players have pointed out, consistency in selection is fundamental to clarity of roles, allowing players to perform without the fear of being dropped after one failure. The current environment, by contrast, suggests players are competing for survival, not for the team's goals.

5. The Pitch and The Philosophy

A less visible but quite damaging factor is the alleged obsession with preparing hyper-aggressive, turning pitches at home. This strategy, which spectacularly backfired in the Kolkata Test against South Africa, demonstrated a tactical miscalculation and an over-reliance on spin at the expense of developing a well-rounded Test team.

Even as India lost the match inside three days, Gambhir didn't show any sign of remorse, as he proudly said that it was exactly the pitch he wanted the curator to prepare.

The result of these experiments is clear: a once-unbreakable home looks fragile, and the Test team looks "the most confused Indian side ever."

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