The Gautam Gambhir Gambit

Head coach's handling of India's transition raises eyebrows

As Indian cricket deals with the fading form of its two stalwarts in captain Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli, head coach Gautam Gambhir and his support staff's role in handling a team in transition has also come into focus.

The ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been a difficult ride for the side; it has struggled to get the right combination in the face of an aggressive and highly-driven Australian team. The visitors will be playing the must-win fifth and final Test here from Friday. The on-field roller-coaster is causing some off-field issues, as well as murmurs of unrest in the dressing room beginning to grow.

It is learnt that Gambhir is not on the same page with most of the players in the team, and the communication isn't as good as it used to be during the time of Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.

Skipper Rohit Sharma has maintained that he speaks individually to the players about selection issues. But after Gambhir took charge in July, Rohit, it is said, hasn't actually given clarity to some of the not-so-junior players about why they were being excluded at times from the side.