By News18
Former England spinner Monty Panesar has raised concerns about Gautam Gambhir鈥檚 tenure as India鈥檚 head coach, particularly focusing on the team鈥檚 bowling performance, which has cast doubts on Gambhir鈥檚 role.
India aims to level the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the second Test against England at Edgbaston Stadium, starting July 2. The Shubman Gill-led team is under scrutiny after losing the first Test, despite having an advantage after the first innings. Notably, India became the first team to lose a Test despite five batters scoring centuries in the five-wicket defeat.
鈥淭he problem is that if Gautam has the ability to make his team into a good batting unit, he then needs to show the ability can make the team into a good bowling unit. Fans are going to troll. They鈥檙e going to come after Gautam Gambhir. When India were 400 plus, India should have won the Test match. But the question is, 鈥業s Gautam Gambhir a good coach to make the bowling good? Does he have the ability? 鈥 He needs to show that.
鈥淗e needs to now think, right, I know how to get the batting to fire, but as a coach, can I pick the team to take 20 wickets? That鈥檚 his biggest challenge right now in England, and if he is not able to demonstrate that, then I think the BCCI will slowly, Test by Test match, assess him, and they鈥檒l just think, you know, what should we do after the end of the series? His biggest challenge is going to be to pick the right attack for every venue to take 20 wickets,鈥 Panesar was quoted a saying to IANS.
Gautam Gambhir took over as India鈥檚 head coach following Rahul Dravid鈥檚 departure. Under his leadership, India has won only three out of 11 Tests 鈥 a 2-0 win against Bangladesh and a 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 鈥 resulting in India falling out of the top two in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
What Should Gambhir Do?
When asked about the conditions at Edgbaston, Panesar predicted a turning wicket that would favour Kuldeep Yadav or Washington Sundar. He advised India to include one of these two as the frontline spinner.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a turning wicket. Edgbaston is dry. We won鈥檛 see much grass from the wicket. I think it will help India. The Edgbaston wicket will suit India. India just need to work out, right? Batting isn鈥檛 the problem. It鈥檚 bowling. We need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match. That鈥檚 the most important thing, and Shubhman Gill did say, 鈥業 will pick 5-4 tailenders, but an attack that can take 20 wickets.鈥
鈥淔rom that point of view, I think Prasidh Krishna bowls too short, maybe give him a rest. Bumrah, I think, will rest anyway. Kuldeep Yadav comes in, or Washington Sundar, one of the other, to play an extra spinner. Ashdeep Singh has to play. Left arm seam, I think that will cause problems for the England team. Then, they have Mohammed Siraj, maybe Shardul Thakur could play,鈥 he added.
(With inputs from IANS)