The troubles are mounting for India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir. After the twin losses in Ireland and England, the former Indian opening batter is facing a lot of flak for the selections made during the T20I matches. The Men in Blue, under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer, failed to win a single game in the UK, losing six matches, while one was abandoned due to rain. Hanuma Vihari, an out-of-favour Indian batter, has now taken aim at Gambhir, accusing him of doing favouritism.
Vihari said that Gambhir has his likes and dislikes, claiming that the Indian coach is always inclined to give a chance to players he is fond of. He then cited examples of Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar, raising questions about their places in the playing XI despite a string of poor performances.
“Gautam Gambhir has certain favourite players, and he wants to take them and play them. I don’t see any value in these players added to the side,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“I don’t understand what some players are doing in the team. Dube does not bowl, cannot field, and has not shown that form with the bat either. Shedge was also unimpressive in both bowling and batting. I have no idea why Washington Sundar is still continuing in the team. If you look at his contributions over the years, it has not been that great,” he added.
‘Spinners problem’
Vihari also said that the major reason behind India’s loss was the underperformance of the spinners, Axar Patel. To make matters worse for the visitors, Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana got injured midway through the series, and India had a depleted squad to choose from.
“Spinners were the problem, whether Varun Chakaravarthy or Axar Patel. Why was Ravi Bishnoi taken on this tour? The problem is in the squad selection and the playing XI selection,” said Vihari.
Gambhir is also facing criticism for his defence of the series loss against Ireland and England. The Indian head coach said that the team is going through a transition after the World Cup; however, this rationale didn’t sit well with many cricket experts and fans in the country.
The BCCI has already announced that it will conduct a thorough review of the series loss in the UK. The review will be done after the ODI series between India and England.