Former England spinner Monty Panesar felt Gautam Gambhir should be relieved as India’s head coach in Tests after the side’s dismal showing in their last two series. Panesar highlighted Gambhir’s poor Test record in places like Australia and England and his playing with several of the senior players in the current setup as reasons he should coach only the Indian white-ball teams.
Team India have underachieved massively in Gambhir’s brief coaching stint, losing back-to-back series against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away). Under him, India have lost six out of their last eight red-ball outings after a 2-0 win over the lowly Bangladesh unit.
When asked in an interview with The Times of India about India possibly exploring split-coaching options for their white and red-ball teams, Panesar said:
He added:
For the record, Gambhir has played with the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, among others during his playing career.
Despite an impressive overall Test average of almost 42, the current Indian head coach averaged a dismal 22.62 and 12.70 in the red-ball format in Australia and England.
Monty Panesar felt India should look to bring a more accomplished cricketer as their head coach in Test cricket, citing VVS Laxman as a possible option.
Laxman has been India’s head coach on an interim basis several times over the past few years. The former batter is currently the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
He concluded:
Meanwhile, Gambhir’s next assignment as Indian coach will be the white-ball games at home against England, followed by the Champions Trophy. India’s next red-ball series will be the five-match tour of England, starting in June.
Follow IPL Auction 2025 Live Updates, News & Biddings at Sportskeeda. Get the fastest updates on Mega-Auction and cricket news
Quick Links
Your perspective matters!
Start the conversation
