Sourav Ganguly has defended his teammate and current India cricket team head coach, Gautam Gambhir. Since taking over, the 43-year-old has lost an ODI series to Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years and seen Team India get whitewashed (0-3) at home for the first time in Test cricket history. Naturally, the media has come hard at Gambhir, and the head coach hasn’t responded well.
He didn’t take Ricky Ponting’s comment on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In the pre-series press conference for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), he said, “What does Ponting have to do with Indian cricket? I think he should think about Australian cricket.” His comments didn’t inspire much confidence as to where Gambhir is at after taking such a hard loss at the start of his stint.
Ganguly backs Gambhir before BGT
Ganguly defended Gambhir while talking with RevSportz. He stated that Gambhir hasn’t changed, but it’s the media that have changed their stance on him. Ganguly asserted Gambhir was the same when he helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) lift the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 trophy as their mentor, and he’s the same individual now before the BGT.
“All I will say is let him be. I saw some criticism of what he said in the press conference. It is the way he is. Let him be. When he won the IPL, he was the same. You were going gaga over him. Just because he has lost three Test matches and a one-day series against Sri Lanka, the straight talk has not been looked at nicely. But that is the way he is,” Ganguly said.
The former Indian skipper also compared Gambhir to Australian cricketers, who, much like him, used to compete their hearts out. Some disliked their characters, but there was no question regarding their will to win. He suggests the same should be applied to the current Indian head coach.
“And why not? Australians, from the time I have watched cricket, they have been tough for you. They have played their cricket that way, whether it was (Steve) Waugh, (Ricky) Ponting or (Matthew) Hayden. So, there is nothing wrong with what Gambhir has said. That is the way he is, and he fights. He competes, so let us give him a chance. It has just been two or three months, and you are passing judgement on him,” Ganguly added.
Gautam Gambhir’s record as India’s head coach
| Matches | Won | Lost | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 8 | 5 | 57.14 |
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