No one has the answers to Team India’s failure against South Africa in the recent Test series. But then, everyone has been questioning the role of head coach Gautam Gambhir. After all, it is during his tenure that the side has lost two home series, or been whitewashed at home in a year.
Ravi Shastri doesn’t spare players
In the first Test in Kolkata, the team lost by 30 runs while chasing 124, and in the second they lost by a massive 408 runs. That only shows how poor the team was throughout the series. Now, ex-India coach Ravi Shastri, who was excellent with the team, and had forged one of the best Test units ever, has raised pertinent points.
In a podcast released by Prabhat Khabar, Shastri pointed out that the non-performance comes as a surprise, since the team is not bad at all. In fact, he said that the responsibility must be shared by the players as well. “You tell me. What happened in Guwahati – from 100/1, you skip to 130/7 – this team is not that bad either.
Gautam Gambhir responsible too
“The team is not that bad; they have enough talent. Therefore, this is where the responsibility must also be taken by the players. You have played spin since childhood,” Shastri said. Asked, if he was trying to protect Gautam Gambhir, he clarified, “I’m not protecting [him]. 100 per cent (he is responsible too). When am I saying anything otherwise? Agar yeh mere saath hota, main pehla responsibility leta (Had this happened with me, I would have been the first one to take responsibility. But then, I wouldn’t have spared the players either in the team meeting).
One must remember, that there was a period in Indian Test history — between 2012 and 2024, where Team India did not lose a single Test series at home. This could well be compared to Australia’s dominance in Tests in yesteryears. For a period of 42 months, they were the best Test side also.
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