'This is what happens when you boss around': Gautam Gambhir in firing line as Virat Kohli's brother slams management

Gautam Gambhir in firing line as Virat Kohli's brother slams management

With the team struggling to avoid yet another whitewash in a home Test series, Vikas Kohli, Virat's elder brother, took an indirect dig at the Indian management. After enduring a 30-run loss the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens, the team hangs on a thread to avoid a similar, in fact a much bigger defeat in the ongoing second Test in Guwahati.

In a post on Threads, which has now been deleted, Vikas expressed his disappointment over India's decline in the red ball format. While he didn't take any names, the message could be interpreted as a reference to head coach Gautam Gambhir.

"There was a time that we played to win even in overseas conditions.... Now we are playing to save the match....even in India.. This is what happens when u try to boss around and change things unnecessary which were not broken....," Vikas wrote.

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The current management includes coach Gambhir, chairman of the BCCI selection committee Ajit Agarkar, and Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, and T20I captain Suryakumar Kumar.

India's Test performance under the coaching of Gambhir has witnessed a gradual decline. The team registered more defeats than victories in his stint so far, including an unusual stretch of struggles at home. The top six has averaged under 30 in this period, and India have repeatedly failed to post scores above 300, a sharp contrast from the consistency they once maintained.

This slump has coincided with the recent retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the Test format - two stalwarts who, for over a decade, anchored India's batting lineup.

Notably, India suffered a 3-0 home series whitewash against New Zealand last year, followed by a 3-1 loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, during which they also missed out on qualifying for the World Test Championship final.

-with ANI inputs