Too many loopholes to fix: How poor fielding and middle-overs failures triggered India's first ODI series loss to New Zealand

INDORE: Blaming head coach Gautam Gambhir for India’s series loss to New Zealand would be lazy analysis. Of course, as head coach he is responsible for team tactics and selections, but India made too many errors to go unpunished. Batters failed to convert starts, fielders dropped sitters, allowed rival batters to turn ones into twos and missed direct hits. The list is long.

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Unfortunately for Gambhir, it is the Black Caps again who seem to be haunting him. In 2024, New Zealand whitewashed India 3–0 for their maiden Test series win in India. On both occasions, their team was vastly inexperienced and India were overwhelming favourites.




The latest reversal could add to the scrutiny on Gambhir ahead of the T20 World Cup at home next month. His position as India’s head coach in Tests is already under the scanner after the team was whipped 2–0 by South Africa in the two-Test series in Nov–Dec last year, marking the team’s first Test series win in India in 25 years. That defeat made Gambhir the first India head coach to preside over two whitewashes in home Test series. India were also vanquished 3-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the 2024–25 season. The only bright spot in Gambhir’s coaching record has been the 2–2 draw in the fiveTest series in England under new captain Shubman Gill last summer.

The ODI record on his CV looks better with the ICC Champions Trophy triumph. But the truth is that India have lost three bilateral ODI series in his 19-month tenure. In July 2024, India lost a series in Sri Lanka (2–1) for the first time in 28 years. While they beat South Africa 2–1 at home, they lost a bilateral series in Australia by the same margin.

His T20I statistics as a coach, however, are brilliant, and it is this format that he will be banking on as India look to defend their title.

Last week, a known Gambhir critic — former India batter and Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary — accused Gambhir of playing a role in removing Rohit Sharma as ODI captain despite India winning the Champions Trophy. He also hinted that Ajit Agarkar, chairman of the selection committee, may have been swayed into replacing Rohit with Gill.

In Gambhir’s defence, though, it can be said that he arrived at a time when several of India’s senior players were on the decline. He has also made some good calls like appointing Suryakumar Yadav as T20I captain instead of the injury-prone Hardik Pandya, backing players like Harshit Rana. Having closely observed Varun Chakravarthy’s spin magic during his stint as mentor of the KKR in the IPL, Gambhir pushed for Varun’s recall, a decision that worked like a charm.

The coach’s decision to give more opportunities to Washington Sundar and to persist with KL Rahul as batterkeeper while benching Rishabh Pant in ODIs has also paid dividends.

In his playing days, Gambhir was known as a combative and brave lefthander who scored ugly but tough runs. If India win the T20 World Cup, even while playing ugly cricket, Gambhir would not mind one bit.


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