New Delhi (India): Former cricketer Sourav Ganguly backed India head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia and asked everyone to give the 43-year-old a chance.
With a 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand at home, Men in Blue's first-ever at home in 92 years, India need to win the series by 4-0 to book their ticket to London for the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the third successive time directly. Notably, India have lost both the finals to Australia and New Zealand.
Gambhir's remarks on Aussie legend Ricky Ponting, following his comments expressing concern over Virat Kohli's form, triggered a clash of words ahead of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will start in Perth from November 22 onwards.
Ponting expressed concern over Kohli scoring two centuries since 2020 in Tests and backed the Indian to come good in Australian conditions, similar to what happened in 2014. However, the head coach Gambhir said in the team's pre-departure presser that Ponting should worry about Australia instead of Virat Kohli. In return, Ponting clarified later that his comments were not a jibe at Virat and referred to the Indian head coach as a "prickly character".
Ganguly said that because of India's historic defeats against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Gambhir's "straight talk" has not been properly analyzed.
"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 while speaking to Revsports.
The former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president added that one cannot pass judgement on Gambhir as it's only been two months since he was appointed the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team.
"Let him say whatever he likes because that will help him. Ultimately you have to go and play the game hard. That is the way it is and it has happened for ages against Australian cricket teams. That makes this series even more competitive and even more followed by people. So let it be, let's give Gambhir a chance. You have given him a job. In two months you cannot pass a judgment on him," he added.
Being a coach, the pressure on Gautam Gambhir will be very high because India have never lost a Border Gavaskar Trophy in the last seven years i.e. last four series. Apart from this, similar to what Ajinkya Rahane-led side under Ravi Shastri without plenty of senior players missing out on the Gabba Test and what they had done in 2021, India might miss their captain Rohit Sharma in the first Test. But he would look to come hard and guide India to their third successive series win down under.
