India have never looked so vulnerable in Test cricket in recent times.
They need a complete reset of their approach to Test cricket, and perhaps a new coach with fresh ideas could revitalise Shubman Gill and his boys.
IMAGE: India has struggled in Test cricket under Gautam Gambhir, who took over as the head coach in 2024. Photograph: BCCI
Key Points
- India’s inability to secure a victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka, despite enforcing the follow-on, highlights a lack of ‘killer instinct’ under Gautam Gambhir’s coaching.
- The absence of key pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami significantly hampered India’s ability to bowl out Sri Lanka, raising questions about player workload management and selection policies.
- Spinners Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain and Ravindra Jadeja struggled on a Day 5 pitch with turn, and Kuldeep Yadav’s controversial exclusion drew criticism from Ravichandran Ashwin.
- India’s World Test Championship final hopes are grim, requiring a strong performance in upcoming series against New Zealand and Australia.
Under Gautam Gambhir, India’s performances in Test cricket continue to disappont.
The second Test in Sri Lanka was a perfect case of a missed opportunity for India, who clearly looked like a team lacking the killer instinct.
While India may have won the two Test series in Sri Lanka 1-0, not being able to force a victory in the second Test at Colombo despite enforcing the follow-on would rankle the visitors for a long time.
Without their premier strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah, India struggled badly to finish off the Sri Lankan lower order in both innings of the Colombo Test, and failure to win the match cost them precious points in the World Test Championship table.
Bumrah, whose bowling brilliance is universally acknowledged, has shown that he is capable of delivering on any kind of pitch. He was ruled out of the series in Sri Lanka after he failed to recover from a knee injury sustained during the ODI series in England in July.
The BCCI do have a workload management policy in place, and a fantastic system of rehab and recovery at the swanky new Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru under the legendary V V S Laxman, but somehow their premier pacer has spent more time on the sidelines than on the pitch in the last year or so.
Another fast bowler who is adept in bowling out teams on such docile pitches is Mohammed Shami, but the selector committee under Ajit Agarkar has shockingly opted to move on from him. In Bumrah’s absence, it would have made sense to have a capable replacement like Shami ready to take his place, but the selectors think otherwise.
Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj toiled hard in both innings in the second Test but except for with the new ball, they were not really threatening.
With India set to play two Tests in New Zealand later in the year, Bumrah’s fitness is central to India’s hopes.
Kuldeep’s Exclusion Criticised
IMAGE: Shubman Gill with spinner Saransh Jain during the second Test in Colombo. Photograph: BCCI
The spin trio of Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain and Ravindra Jadeja failed to bowl out Sri Lanka on a Day 5 pitch despite there being enough bounce and turn on offer, and their role must be closely scrutinised.
Kuldeep Yadav’s exclusion from the second Test due to ‘an infection’ has raised quite a few eyebrows as he made way for Jain, who had a forgettable Test debut.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin slammed the handling of Kuldeep by the Indian team management.
‘What sin did he commit? Why do they dislike him so much? Why are they unable to back him? I really feel sorry for him,’ Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
‘They will make him play the next Test now but two mistakes do not make a right. The first Test had nothing to do with the second. You had already won the first Test, so why didn’t you back him? I am just not able to accept it,’ Ashwin said.
Shubman Gill continued his tactics of using the spinners for short spells of around 5-6 overs and thus came in for some criticism, because this doesn’t allow the spin bowlers to build up a rhythm or work on a plan against a particular batter.
Gill was not done any favours by the lackadaisical spinners, and particularly by Jain’s inconsistent bowling.
Jain came up with a lacklustre performance on debut, picking up three wickets in 57.4 overs bowled in total in the Test.
Senior pro Jadeja fared no better, taking four wickets in 58.3 overs, with only Suthar making an impression with a six-wicket haul.
The way Sri Lanka escaped with an unlikely draw, batting out the whole of day five, left most observers stunned. Normally, a team would be expected to crumble under the pressure of batting out the entire day, but Sri Lanka showed great resolve to keep the Indian bowlers at bay led by two memorable centuries from young Sonal Dinusha.
In the first innings, Sri Lanka recovered from 171/6 to 290 all courtesy of Dinusha’s century (103). In the second innings, Sri Lanka staged a mighty escape as Dinusha once again stood tall with a gritty knock of 132 not out helping the hosts bounce back from 218/6 to finish on 402/9 to hold India to a frustrating draw.
India’s hopes of making it to the World Test Championship final next year are looking quite grim. They need a minimum of five wins and a draw from the remaining seven Tests — including two in New Zealand and five against Australia at home — and hope that other results would go their way.
It was strange to see Head Coach Gautam Gambhir send out messages regularly to Gill through the 12th man during the final day. Gill was also seen having a chat with Gambhir and the other coaches in the dressing room when he temporarily left the field on Day 5.
It seems that Gill, who has been the Test captain for over a year now, doesn’t seem to be in full control of the team, with Gambhir calling the shots from the outside.
Gambhir could count himself lucky at having escaped the culling time and again after several failures.
He went into the Sri Lanka series under a lot of pressure following India’s disappointing show at home in recent years under him. And the 1-0 series result only adds to his unimpressive CV as the Test team coach.
India’s Test Series Results Under Gambhir:
Gambhir has a good record as white ball coach but in Tests, he seems to be struggling for ideas. It is not easy to forget that he is the only Indian coach to suffer series whitewashes at home in successive years — against New Zealand and South Africa.
Seeing his poor record, it won’t be unreasonable to expect the BCCI to consider appointing a separate coach for the Indian Test team, especially with the WTC Final hopes on the line.
But with Gambhir having a lot of backing in the Board, despite the poor results, that looks a far-fetched idea.
India have never looked so vulnerable in Test cricket in recent times, at least since the start of the decade.
They need a complete reset of their approach to Test cricket, and perhaps a new coach with fresh ideas could revitalise Shubman Gill and his boys.
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