The Indian team’s time under Gautam Gambhir as head coach has not gone well. They defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in the ODI series after winning the T20I series. Then, in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25, they lost 1-3 to Australia and suffered a blanking at home at the hands of New Zealand. For the first time since the World Test Championship (WTC) began, India is not in the finals.
Former England spinner Monty Panesar has made remarks regarding the Indian team’s increasing level of uncertainty in Test matches.
Additionally, the veteran proposed a two-coach strategy for Team India. He expressed his belief that VVS Laxman, a former Indian batsman, ought to lead the side in the red-ball format. In contrast, Gambhir ought to lead the team in both ODIs and T20Is.
“I believe the selectors would be considering if Gambhir is serious about his role as a coach or if he should concentrate only on ODIs and T20Is and perhaps bring in someone like VVS Laxman, for instance, to coach the Test team. Or get him as a batting coach to assist Gambhir,” News18 cited Panesar as saying.
“He reminds me of Rahul Dravid. In every situation, he has achieved success. I believe that in order to gain respect, you need an Indian icon who has excelled under all circumstances to take on the role of coach,” he added.
You do pay attention when Laxman says, “You are not going to play the ball on the up when it is swinging,” right? I’m not sure, though, if they actually take Gambhir seriously or if they’re just saying, “Okay, yeah, we’ll listen to him, but we’re going to go and play our natural game,” Panesar continued.
When Dravid was not available, Laxman took over as India’s coach.
It is important to remember that VVS Laxman has filled in as head coach in the past when Rahul Dravid, the former head coach of India, decided to take a break. When Gambhir decided to go when the Indian squad went to South Africa for the Twenty20 International series, he took this action.
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