5 controversies in Indian cricket since Gautam Gambhir's appointment as head coach

Gautam Gambhir became the new head coach of the Indian cricket team on July 9 before the Sri Lanka tour. The new coach helped the Men in Blue record a memorable 3-0 T20I series win against Sri Lanka in his first assignment, but the Indian side lost the subsequent ODI series against the Lions 0-2.

It looked like a one-off series loss, because the Indian team hadn't played ODI cricket for almost eight months before that series. The Men in Blue bounced back with a 3-0 T20I series win and a fantastic 2-0 Test series triumph against Bangladesh.

Considering how India managed to win the Kanpur Test despite the multiple rain delays, it seemed like the 'Gautam Gambhir era' had truly begun in Indian cricket. However, the Indian team suffered a shock 0-3 defeat in the next home Test series against New Zealand, followed by a 1-3 defeat in the away Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.

The atmosphere in the dressing room has changed drastically over the last few weeks. Here are the top five controversies emerging from the Indian team in the Gautam Gambhir era.

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#1 Gautam Gambhir picks Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate in his coaching staff

Head coach Gautam Gambhir got the choice to pick his own set of coaches for the rest of the staff. He chose Abhishek Nayar as batting coach, Morne Morkel as bowling coach and Ryan ten Doeschate as an assistant coach.

The decision to have South African pacer Morkel and Dutch all-rounder Ten Doeschate in the coaching group raised many eyebrows, because in November 2022, Gambhir had commented that only Indians should be the coaches of the national team. In his view, foreign coaches vanished after making money from the BCCI.

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#2 Suggestion to limit family time on overseas tours

According to a report by India Today on January 16, coach Gambhir was frustrated with the team's defeats in the series against New Zealand and Australia. Hence, he reportedly asked the BCCI to limit the family time for players on foreign tours, similar to the pre-COVID era.

As per the new rules, family members can stay with the players for a maximum of two weeks on a tour of 45 or more days. For shorter tours, the maximum duration of stay for family members will be one week only. The change in rules sparked a major debate on social media, with some fans suggesting the alterations may not be that necessary.

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#3 Gautam Gambhir addresses dressing room leaks

Soon after the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 series, a report from The Indian Express claimed that Gambhir was furious with the team and said 'Bahut ho gaya' when the batters could not produce match-winning performances. The leak created a massive controversy on social media.

When asked about the reports and the dressing room leaks, Gambhir said before the fifth Test:

"Those are just reports. That's not the truth. I don't think I need to answer any reports. There were some honest words, that is what I can say. Honesty is very important. Honesty is extremely important if you want to go and achieve great things."

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#4 Gautam Gambhir's comment on Rohit Sharma's place in the playing XI

Ahead of the fifth Test between India and Australia, coach Gambhir addressed the press conference instead of captain Rohit Sharma. The skipper did not even spend much time in the training sessions, which raised questions over his place in the team.

When asked if Rohit would feature in the playing XI, Gambhir replied:

"We will take the playing XI call at the toss after looking at the pitch tomorrow."

It is rare to see any coach make such a comment about a captain's place in the playing XI. Thus, it led to another controversy on social media.

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#5 Hardik Pandya's exit from the leadership group

Before Gambhir joined the Indian team as the head coach, Hardik Pandya was the vice-captain in white-ball cricket. When Rohit Sharma retired from T20Is after the T20 World Cup, it seemed like Pandya would be his successor. However, Suryakumar Yadav became the new T20I skipper instead.

For the upcoming T20I series against England, the team management has named Axar Patel as the new vice-captain. Meanwhile, as per Times of India, Jasprit Bumrah is set to be named as the new deputy skipper in ODIs for India.

It is not clear who made this decision, but the sudden exit of Pandya from the leadership group in the Gambhir era has sparked a huge debate.