By Rohit - Jun 30, 2025 01:30 PM
Nearly a year after Gautam Gambhir took over the reins of the Indian cricket team as head coach, his early tenure has turned into a mixed bag, one laced with silverware, controversy, and significant growing pains. Yet, despite trailing 0-1 in a five-match Test series in England, reports now confirm that Gambhir’s position is rock solid, even if India were to lose all five matches.
According to a senior BCCI official speaking to InsideSport, Gambhir enjoys the “full trust of the board”, and his tenure, set to run till the 2027 ODI World Cup, is not under any threat, regardless of short-term outcomes.
Gambhir took over officially on July 9, 2024, following Rahul Dravid’s high note exit after India clinched the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. The former opener came in with a winning IPL pedigree, having mentored Kolkata Knight Riders to their 2024 title, and was widely seen as the most natural fit after names like VVS Laxman declined and Ricky Ponting’s approach was rebuffed.
However, Gambhir's start has been shaky, especially in Test cricket:
While India did win the ICC Champions Trophy in March, which counts as a high-profile achievement, their long-format inconsistency has led to murmurs about a split coaching model, Gambhir overseeing white-ball formats, with someone like VVS Laxman handling the Test side. But the BCCI, as always, remains conservative.
The Board has never warmed to the idea of split roles, whether for coaching or captaincy. Even during Virat Kohli’s exit from T20I leadership in 2021, the BCCI refused to split formats across captains, opting for unified decision-making even when public sentiment leaned otherwise.
Today, Suryakumar Yadav captains India’s T20I team only because he’s not a regular in the ODI XI, not because the BCCI supports format-specific leadership. That same reasoning applies to Gambhir’s coaching role.
As one BCCI insider put it: “At the moment, Gambhir is doing a good job with a young team. In transition, you do not always get the intended results. Even Australia and England struggled during transitions. It’s premature to take a call on Gambhir.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Gambhir’s early days were marked by dressing room leaks during the 1-3 defeat in Australia. The turmoil reached its peak with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both announcing retirements from Test cricket, decisions that were publicly positioned as personal but are viewed by many fans as politically nudged.
The timing of their exits, amid a leadership overhaul, triggered conspiracy theories about forced retirements, placing Gambhir in the middle of a cultural and generational transition.
For now, Gambhir’s position appears untouchable, but that’s not to say the criticism won't grow louder if the results don’t improve. The second Test at Nottingham looms large, and India’s fielding debacle in Leeds has already raised eyebrows, prompting even Ravi Shastri to deliver a blunt dressing-room message.
If India turns the series around, or even competes hard, Gambhir's stock will rise. But if not, expect the calls for structural reform to return after the series, even if the board holds its ground for now.
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