Gautam Gambhir vs Ravi Shastri: Comparing the coaching records of the two after 19 matches

India were beaten 1-3 by Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Sunday, January 5. The hosts outplayed India in all three departments of the game and ensured that they stayed ahead of their opponents at all times. Australia were the deserving winners of this series.

India, who relinquished the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014, are going through an extraordinary slump in Test cricket. Their last series victory came over minnows Bangladesh 2-0 in familiar conditions earlier in 2024, while soon afterwards, they were thumped 0-3 by New Zealand at home.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir, who was appointed in the aftermath of his incumbent Rahul Dravid departing after India's victorious 2024 T20 World Cup campaign, sees his record being tarnished in a shocking manner. Under his leadership, India have won just three out of the 10 Tests they have played.

In ODIs, Gambhir's record is even worse; India have played three games under him and have lost two, drawing one. What's worse is that such a shocking statistic came in a series against apparent 'minnows' Sri Lanka. In T20Is, however, India enjoy an unprecedented record of six wins in as many matches.

It is clear that Gambhir was given the job on the back of his white-ball credentials after having led Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders in successive IPL campaigns. His ability to pick home the coveted IPL trophy with the latter earlier in 2024 helped him land the India head coach's job as well.

However, this has ensured that India's record in white-ball cricket has remained anything but unvarnished. In ODI cricket, as the sorry statistics tell, India are yet to win a match under Gambhir. T20 cricket is already deep-set in India's blood, and they have won all 10 matches they have played ever since he took over.

However, he was in charge of only six of those matches, with current National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman taking over for the other four. Gambhir's record in his brief stay at the top does not make for a good reading, especially as it concerns the controversial manner in which Ravichandran Ashwin suddenly announced his retirement, among other issues.

There were talks of discontent in the India dressing room which were promptly shut down by interim skipper Jasprit Bumrah during the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney. It is fair to say that Gambhir's job is on the line now, and he needs to deliver with the ICC Champions Trophy title in February to save face. We shall try to compare Gambhir's current record with that of former India director and head coach Ravi Shastri.

Ravi Shastri's record as India's head coach is top-notch

Ravi Shastri at Glamorgan County Cricket Clubs Sophia Gardens, on August 1, 2024, in Cardiff Wales. Cardiff Metropolitan University made Indian cricket legend Ravi Shastri an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his contribution to cricket as a world class player, coach and commentator during a career that spans more than 40 years. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Ravi Shastri's record, meanwhile, is one of the best ever for an India head coach. When he stepped down in 2021, Shastri had been at the helm for four years since July 2017 and led India to 25 Test wins in 43 matches. This translates to a winning percentage of 58.13 per cent, higher than the 48.48 per cent the legendary Gary Kirsten had.

Shastri first became famous for leading India to their first-ever series win in Australia in 2018-19 and made them repeat it in 2020-21. That India were the first Asian team to do so made Shastri look all the more better. In white-ball cricket, India reached the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup under his leadership.

Another major high that Shastri reached during his tenure as head coach was guiding India to the final of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in 2021, which the Men in Blue promptly lost to New Zealand - the same opponents to whom they had endured heartbreak in the semifinals of the 2019 ODI World Cup.

If one were to compare the first 19 matches in which Shastri was in charge of the Indian team, he led them to victory in 16 of them, earning a win percentage of 84 as compared to Gambhir, whose record at the moment is a win percentage of 47. The first series that India played under Shastri, in Sri Lanka, saw the Men in Blue whitewashing their opponents in Tests, ODIs and T20Is, returning home with nine wins in as many matches (three Tests, five ODIs and one T20I).

Next came a home series against New Zealand, in which India won two out of the three ODIs played and two out of the three T20Is. The rest of the four matches that made up Shastri's first 19 came against Australia at home, in which India won three of those ODIs. India would eventually go on to win the ODI series 4-1 and draw the T20I series 1-1.

Shastri's record in his first 19 matches, quite clearly, was superior to that being enjoyed by Gambhir at the moment. However, comparisons between the two cannot be done without mentioning the personnel involved. For example, when Shastri was coach, Virat Kohli was in his prime, and now, under Gambhir, he is in the twilight of his career. So on and so forth.