CHENNAI: The last time India head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed a press conference in a Test setting, one of the questions put forth in front of him was whether he thought he was still the best man for the job, especially in red-ball cricket. The venue was Guwahati and India had just been handed a 0-2 hammering by South Africa. For Gambhir, as India head coach, it was his third Test series loss in six of them, with the two series wins coming against West Indies and Bangladesh (India held England for a 2-2 draw). "It's up to the BCCI to decide it," he had said then. "I said it during my first press conference when I took over as head coach. Indian cricket is important, I'm not important. And I sit here and say exactly the same thing," the former India captain added.
That was over six months ago. Since coaching India to another ICC title, Gambhir is now facing the media ahead of a long season beginning in New Chandigarh on Saturday. A one-off Test against Afghanistan might not be much of a challenge, but Gambhir knows the road ahead is not rosy and he, and the team led by Shubman Gill have to tick a fair few boxes before they land in Sri Lanka for the two Tests in August.
One of the things he said in Guwahati was that the real transition of the Test team began in England. The process has been in place since 2023 with Yashasvi Jaiswal coming in and Gill moving down but Gambhir felt the team that lost to South Africa is not the same as the one that was thrashed by New Zealand. Now, ahead of the Afghanistan Test, he stuck to what he believes strongly.
"The actual transition happened from England. What? Nine Test matches," quipped Gambhir when asked about the transition and the youngsters not making the spot their own on Friday. "So after nine Tests, if you feel it is a long road, I don't agree with that and we all know how well this young team played in England and then we won against West Indies. You have two Tests against South Africa, it hurts but that is what it is going to be with transition. The consistency may be a miss because these are young boys. Majority of these boys have played less than 30 Tests," he added.
Though he said he does not want to make excuses, it is not without merit. Five of the main players have played less than 20 Tests. Jaiswal is at 28. Gill, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj and Rishabh Pant are the ones with over 40 matches. And three of the 15 are yet to play Tests. Which is also why, despite not being a part of the World Test Championship, this one-off Test gives a chance to gear up for the arduous challenge ahead. Before the two Tests in Sri Lanka — there is a two-Test series in New Zealand in October followed by the home Border Gavaskar Trophy — Gambhir and Co want to cover all bases. He spoke about pulling some ODI regulars early ahead of the New Zealand Test because of a short turnaround in the multi-format tour. But even before that, there is a possibility of some of the Test players playing the India A matches in Sri Lanka later this month. That much seems clear, especially when he remains optimistic about qualifying for the WTC final. "I don't think there is any reason not to believe that we cannot win the World Test Championship and that is what not only me but everyone sitting in the dressing room believes in."
"We are a little fortunate that we have got enough time before Sri Lanka because we have got a 15 days break between England and Sri Lanka. So that is enough time to prepare for those two Test matches. We might have to prepare a little differently for New Zealand because between the last ODI and the first Test match there is only a three days break. So we will have to pull out ODI players who are part of the Test squad."
"One thing we realised is that we need to start preparing better in red-ball cricket and that was something which was lacking against West Indies and South Africa. That is something which we are going to do going forward. Look, more or less we are a very settled batting line-up, especially at home. And we know what way we want to go."
The coach has laid out the plans in the open. Now, it is over to the captain and players to execute it all on the field.