Ravi Shastri has launched a scathing attack on India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, openly questioning the team’s selection decisions in the ongoing two-match Test series against South Africa.
Shastri, who has coached India through some of their most successful years, said that he has been trying to understand what the team management was thinking. The former Indian head coach also called some of the team management’s calls illogical.
However, the former Indian captain’s biggest concern is the team’s sudden obsession with all-rounders in Test cricket. Ever since Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach last year, players like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana have been pushed, while pure specialists, especially batters like Sarfaraz Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad, have been overlooked.
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Shastri believes that this change has created confusion in the team’s structure. This confusion is at its peak in the ongoing South Africa series. India picked three spin all-rounders, and in a surprising move, they promoted Washington Sundar to bat at number three ahead of a proper specialist like Sai Sudharsan.
The decision backfired badly as India lost the first Test by 30 runs. Going into the ongoing second and final test, Shubman Gill’s injury opened the door for Sudharsan, who returned to his number-three spot. But the team still stuck to the all-rounder-heavy plan, with Nitish Kumar Reddy coming in for Axar Patel in the lower order.
Ravi Shastri slams Gautam Gambhir’s selection calls as India set to face another whitewash at home
Sundar was pushed down to number eight, which raised even more questions because he had bowled just one over in the first Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Ravi Shastri felt that if Sundar was hardly going to be used with the ball, then selecting him didn’t make much sense.
The 1983 World Cup winner believes that India has made things unnecessarily complicated. Instead of backing specialists and giving clarity to the batting order, too many all-rounders have been shuffled around without a clear role, and the result is miserable even at home.
The former Indian all-rounder also said that when India looks back at the ongoing Test series, they will have to admit that many of the selection calls were simply not right. This series has instead become a lesson in how unclear roles and confused selections can hurt the team, felt Shastri.
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Still trying to fathom the thought process: Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri said on air, as quoted by News18: “Just doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand the thought process there. And when they look back at the series, some of the selections… I am still trying to fathom the thought process behind them. In Kolkata, one of the spinners (Sundar) bowled just one over.
Ideally, you could have gone with another specialist batsman. Similarly, here, Washington batted at three in the last Test and could have easily batted at four here, now that you had a number three. He’s not a number eight; he’s far better than a number eight.”
Notably, India was already whitewashed by New Zealand at home last year, and another drubbing could cost Gambhir his position, as the hosts are heading towards another embarrassing series loss. South Africa is on the verge of a historic clean sweep in India.
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