Unprecedented series defeats against Sri Lanka and New Zealand have put Gautam Gambhir under immense pressure, just three months after he was appointed as the head coach of the Indian team. He was appointed to the top job amid great fanfare and was also given a rare seat at the selection committee meeting for the Australian tour. However, his first report card clearly shows that things are not going well for the former India opener.

Unless there is a significant comeback Down Under, Gambhir, who has been given free rein in selection matters, may not be given much of a say in team-related matters in the coming times. Immediately after Gambhir took over the reins, India lost the ODI series to Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years. New Zealand finished the match 3-0 Something his team has never experienced in their long cricketing journey in the Tests at home on Sunday.

While the coach can only do so much, questions are being raised about the lack of foresight shown in taking a ranking-altering move in Mumbai despite knowing that the top-ranked team has failed against quality time and time again in the last six to seven years. Spin bowling on wickets offering good spin. Even Gambhir’s philosophy of playing the same way come hell or high water is something that those closely associated with Indian cricket fail to understand.

Agreeing to send pacer Mohammed Siraj as night watchman on the second evening of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai and placing Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings are some of the tactical moves that have been questioned by all. “Gautam Gambhir was given access that his predecessors Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid did not have. BCCI’s rule book does not allow coaches to be part of selection committee meetings, but an exception was made for the Australia tour selection meeting.

“Considering the size of the tour, the head coach was allowed to participate,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity. At least two players – Delhi and KKR speedster Harshit Rana and Andhra and SRH all-rounder Nitish Reddy – are in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) squad on the head coach’s insistence.

However, Rana was not given any white-ball game either in Sri Lanka or in the home series against Bangladesh. He was reportedly released due to unwellness before the last match, but returned to bowl in the Indian nets in Bengaluru within a week. And then he had a good Ranji Trophy match against Assam.

There was a school of thought that believed that instead of featuring in the Ranji Trophy, Rana could be sent to Australia with the India A team as playing one or two first-class games on lively tracks here would enable him to bat right. Length before test series.

Instead, he was converted into a net bowler for the just-concluded Test series, where two of the three tracks changed the order.

Coming to Reddy, he ran into trouble in the ‘A’ game when he faced a short ball and his bowling was definitely not good enough to be among the top five bowlers, adding to the concerns.

Impressed with Reddy’s T20 skills, Gambhir is convinced that he could be the ideal replacement for Hardik Pandya as a bowler all-rounder.

The Australia series will be a tough test for Gambhir as he may also have to spell doom for some of the senior players and show them the mirror as the board watches his moves from the sidelines.

The whitewash also put the stray Delhi man under the spotlight.

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