The Indian cricket team endured yet another debacle in a home Test series putting head coach Gautam Gambhir in spotlight. The team were decimated by South Africa in Guwahati, hosting its maiden Test, as India were crushed by 408 runs.
This was Gambhir's third series loss in the six he has been in charge of so far. Gambhir has so far won two - against Bangladesh and West Indies at home - and managed a draw when a young Indian unit travelled to England for a five-match series.
Gambhir was also asked if he feels he is the "right man for the job" to which the coach had a straightforward response by terming his future is decided by the BCCI.
Venkatesh Prasad, former India pacer who has also served as the team's bowling coach previously, didn't mince any words while calling out India's "flawed" strategy focusing mostly on all-rounders.
In a series of posts on X, Prasad wrote: "Really disappointed by how India is going about in Test cricket. The all-rounder obsession is absolute brain-fade especially when you don’t bowl them. Rank poor tactics, poor skills, poor body language and an unprecedented two series whitewash at home. Hope this does not get washed off with Test matches nine months away and this negative approach changes."
He then explained how the team selection should focus on "specialists" and from the performances in Ranji and Duleep trophies and not IPL when it comes to the red ball format.
"Need to play specialists and players need to be picked on the basis of Ranji, Duleep Trophy in domestic cricket. Can pick in 50 overs based on IPL performance, but for Test cricket, Ranji and Duleep trophy have to be the barometer.
"Yash Rathod, Shubham Sharma, Baba Indrajith , Smaran Ravichandran are names most wouldn’t have heard off as they don’t play IPL but consistently scoring runs in domestic cricket
"Can’t play sub 40 FC avg players in the Test team based on IPL performances. Playing all rounder in Indian conditions because he can bat is not the correct approach in Test cricket. Test Cricket needs specialists. We all love Indian cricket and it’s sad to see what’s happening over the last year and a half just to somehow prove this flawed strategy right. Can’t function on such egos in the interest of Indian cricket, Truly disappointing"
The outcome serves as a major blow to India's chance of making it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. India have slipped below Pakistan to fifth in the current WTC 2025-27 rankings.
They will now only play a Test series in August next year, when the team travels to Sri Lanka for a two-match contest. It will be followed by another away two-Test series against New Zealand in October–November next year.
India will now engage in a home Test series in January–February 2027, when Australia tours to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The series will be India's final assignment in the current WTC cycle.
