India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir is under scrutiny for his performance since replacing Rahul Dravid. Under his leadership, India defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in a Test series but were clean swept 3-0 by New Zealand at home. Currently, India is down 1-2 in their ongoing five-match Test series against Australia, making the upcoming final game crucial for their World Test Championship hopes.
Reports suggest that Gambhir has been critical of keeping Rohit Sharma in the playing XI, as the Indian Test captain has struggled, scoring only 31 runs across three matches in the series.
However, Gambhir has displayed the courage to drop himself in the past for not performing well. This occurred during the 2018 IPL season when, as Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) captain, he struggled with the bat and his team lost five out of their first six matches. Shreyas Iyer, who replaced him as captain, confirmed that Gambhir made the decision himself to drop out of the playing XI, which Iyer called a courageous move. “I didn’t make any call to be honest. It wasn’t my decision to drop him (Gambhir). He himself decided to sit out, which was really courageous decision with him being the captain in the previous matches,” said Iyer.
Iyer also praised Gambhir’s decision to back out, which allowed Colin Munro to come in and score 33 off 18 balls in a game against Kolkata Knight Riders, leading DC to victory. Gambhir even chose not to take his Rs 2.8 crore salary for that season due to his poor form.
