India are bound to face off against Australia in the impending Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 for five Tests, the first of which begins November 22 at the Optus Stadium, in Perth. During their last tours Down Under, India have managed to emerge victorious under the captaincies of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. On both the occasions, India had a head coach in the form of Ravi Shastri.
However, this time round, the things are different as new head coach Gautam Gambhir is leading the Indian side for the 2024-25 edition of the famous bilateral series. It hasn’t been an ideal start for Gambhir, as under his guidance, India faced a series loss to Sri Lanka, and then a whitewash against New Zealand, their first at home in many years. As a result, the Delhi-born is under a lot of pressure to pave the way for India against the Aussies.
Ahead of the team’s departure, Gambhir addressed a press conference in Mumbai, and gave a heated response when asked about Ricky Ponting’s statement concerning the form of senior batter Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma. The response received mix reactions from the public, and now former cricketer Tim Paine has also come to carry forward the episode, defending Ponting.
“I don’t love it (Gambhir’s response). It’s not a good sign, I think, because all he was asked was a very simple question,” the former wicketkeeper-batter told SEN Tassie.
“I think he’s maybe looking at Ricky still as someone he’s playing against, but Ricky is a commentator now – he’s paid to give an opinion, and his opinion was spot on. Virat has been sliding, it is a concern, absolutely. But for me now, the biggest concern for India right now isn’t Rohit Sharma’s batting, isn’t Virat Kohli’s batting, it’s their coach and his ability to stay calm under pressure,” Paine further opined.
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Paine, who was the captain of the Australian team during both the previous tours by the Indian team, was also of the opinion that Shastri as a coach helped the team to stay motivated and also enjoy their game at the same time, which he does not find in Gambhir’s approach. Moreover, Gambhir was also labelled as a prickly and an extremely competitive coach by Paine.
“Ravi Shastri created a great environment, the players were energised, they played with passion, he sold them the dream and motivated them in a really light-hearted enjoyable way. They have gone to a new coach now who is really prickly, really competitive – and that is not to say that’s not a good thing and a good way to coach – but my concern is that it’s not a great fit for the Indian cricket team,” Paine concluded.
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