New Delhi: India head coach Gautam Gambhir is reportedly ‘overruling’ Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, having a major say in key decisions for the team.
Gambhir overruling Gill also might have played a role in India being denied a victory in the recently concluded 2nd Test against in Colombo.
Sri Lanka rode on a valiant unbeaten century from Sonal Dinusha to help the hosts pull off an unlikely draw in the second Test in Colombo. Sri Lanka had lost six wickets and had a slender lead of only 16 runs at stumps on Day 4, however, Dinusha batted the entire day on the final day of the Test match to help Sri Lanka secure a draw.
India won the two-match Test series 1-0, but the draw hurt their chances of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final. As per a report in Cricblogger, Gill wanted to declare India’s first innings early on Day 2, however, his decision was overruled by Gambhir, who wanted Dhruv Jurel to complete his century first.
India eventually declared on 503/9, minutes after Jurel completed his century and the visitors crossed the 500-run mark. India were in a strong position in the Test match after bundling out Sri Lanka for 290 runs in their first innings and asking them to follow on in their second innings, however, Dinusha’s ton helped the hosts avoid a defeat in the game.
As per the report, there is growing concern within the Indian team that head coach Gambhir has been overruling Gill on several occasions. “There is growing concern that the coach is overruling the captain on too many occasions, and that appears to be happening far too often,” a source was quoted as saying by Cricblogger.
When will India’s next Test assignment start?
Gill-led India will take on New Zealand in their next Test assignment in November this year. India will travel to New Zealand for a two-match Test series, which will get underway on November 19. India are currently in the fifth spot on the WTC 2025-27 points table and cannot afford anymore slip-ups to remain in contention for a spot in the final.