Gautam Gambhir’s tenure is till 2027 World CupImage Credit source: PTI
Team India, which has not lost any Test series at home for almost 12 years, has suffered defeat for the second time in the last 12 months. Not just defeat, but the dust has been cleared. Team India, which lost barely 5-6 matches at home between 2012 and 2024, has lost 5 out of 7 matches between the New Zealand series and the South Africa series in 2024. All this has happened during the tenure of current coach Gautam Gambhir. In such a situation, it is natural to raise questions on Gambhir’s coaching future. Not only Gambhir, but Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar is also under question. But it seems that BCCI is in no mood to take any action at present.
A report in the Indian Express has revealed that despite facing the embarrassment of two Test series clean sweeps in a year, the Indian Cricket Board is not going to take any hasty action. The report quoted BCCI sources as saying that the board does not want to take any hasty steps because they also believe that the team is going through a period of change. It has also been claimed that at present the board is not going to order any changes regarding the players.
So is Gautam Gambhir’s job safe at the moment? The claims made by the board’s source in the report indicate the same. According to this, “We will not take any decision regarding him (Gambhir) at the moment because the World Cup is near and his contract is also till the World Cup 2027.” Gambhir was appointed the head coach of Team India in July 2024 and was given a tenure of 3 years, which will run till the end of the World Cup 2027. However, it is certain that after this defeat, BCCI officials will definitely talk to the selection committee and team management and discuss further plans.
This means that despite losing 5 test matches at home in 12 months, there is currently no threat to the place of coach Gautam Gambhir, while the places of players and selectors are also safe at the moment. Anyway, Team India now has to play the next Test series directly in August 2026, when it will tour Sri Lanka. India’s next Test series at home is directly in 2027, when the Australian team will come for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In such a situation, Gambhir currently has a long time to make a strategy for this format.