“He has now taken control of this team..”- Dinesh Karthik reflects on Gambhir’s Test team future
Following India’s terrific performance against England in the five-match Test series, renowned commentator Harsha Bhogle and former Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik reflected on various aspects of India’s performance on Cricbuzz. The duo discussed India’s performance in Test cricket since Gautam Gambhir took over as India’s head coach. With Gambhir at the helm, India whitewashed Bangladesh 2-0 in the two-match Test series, but it was followed by a shocking 3-0 series defeat at home against New Zealand. India then toured Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and lost the series 3-1.
A few months later, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from the Test format. India went to England with Shubman Gill being appointed as the new Test captain. Despite exhibiting a terrific performance throughout the long tour, India were on the verge of losing the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 3-1, but terrific spells from Siraj and Prasidh Krishna helped them win the final Test by six runs and draw the series 2-2.
Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik shed light on India’s disappointing performance in the Test series against New Zealand and then in Australia. The former lauded him for backing a young team and a young captain to do the job in English conditions.
“Gautam Gambhir had a very ordinary series against New Zealand at home, and that goes without saying. He continued to have a poor series against Australia. That 3-1 loss—and had India lost 1-3 here in England—I would have said it very differently. But he has now taken control of this team, I feel. This is a team handpicked by him. He has backed a lot of young talent. He has installed a young captain. He is the driving force behind this team, along with Shubman [Gill]. “
Dinesh Karthik, however, feels that the Indian head coach must focus on India’s ability to pick 20 wickets in addition to having depth in batting. While acknowledging his fine record in white-ball cricket, Karthik emphasised the need to give Gambhir more time to prove himself in Tests, as he lacks substantial red-ball coaching experience.
“ I would think that can be almost look being serious about picking 20 wickets as much as he feels he needs depth in batting. In Test cricket, I think he also learning on the job. He is a young coach. He hasn’t done too many five days game. I hasn’t done too much domestic cricket as a coach for him to have that volume of experience. We don’t know what is the language that he speaks in the dressing room. But they are a fired up bunch of boys.”
“He should be proud of the effort that the boys have put in”- Dinesh Karthik on Gambhir
Dinesh Karthik believes that Gautam Gambhir plays a key role in taking major decisions within the team and must now take full responsibility if the results don’t go his way. Karthik concluded by saying that he should be proud of the way his team has performed in Tests.
"So far, I feel he is now getting his way. He will now be responsible for everything that is happening in the Indian team. If he does well, credit to him. If he doesn't do well, I think he should put his hand up and say, 'No, I think we made a mistake here'. For the moment, I think he should be proud of the effort that the boys have put in and a lot of what the backroom staff have done in the last month-and-a-half," Karthik told Cricbuzz.
