Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, the Indian team suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the Test series against New Zealand. It was the first time that an Indian team faced a ‘clean sweep’ in a Test series of three or more matches at home. Also, after 24 years, Team India faced a whitewash in a Test series at home. Earlier in 2000, South Africa inflicted a whitewash on India in a two-match Test series.
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Strategic Decisions Under Scrutiny
After this embarrassing defeat, Indian team head coach Gautam Gambhir has also been questioned. Gambhir took over as the head coach four months ago. But the loss in the Test series has put a lot of pressure on him. Gambhir was given special permission by the BCCI to attend the selection committee meeting for the Australia tour. But now reports suggest that things are looking ‘serious’ for Gautham.
Gautam Gambhir has been given many facilities which were not given to Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. According to BCCI rules, the head coach is not allowed to attend the selection committee meeting but considering the importance of the tour, the head coach was allowed to attend, sources said.
Gautam Gambhir’s sending in Mohammad Siraj as night watchman in Tests and sending Sarfraz Khan at number eight in the first innings are some of the strategic moves that can be questioned.
Bowler Harshit Rana and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy are also on the tour of Australia. But Rana did not get a chance to debut against Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. Had Harshit Rana been sent to Australia with the India-A team, he would have been used to playing matches on bouncy pitches there.
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Player Utilization and Future Prospects
Nitish Kumar Reddy was included in the 15-man squad as a bowler for the series against New Zealand. But two of the three pitches in the series were rank turners. Being a fast bowler, Nitish did not get a chance. Also in the match against Australia-A, he had a problem playing against the short ball. His bowling form was not looking good either. Even if Nitish Reddy is brought in as an alternative to Hardik Pandya at such a time, questions can be raised about his usefulness.
With these issues, BCCI is expected to closely monitor Gambhir’s upcoming decisions and the Indian team’s performance on the upcoming Australia tour.
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