India vs Afghanistan: Gambhir lays out plan to resurrect India’s Test fortunes over crucial next nine months

India head coach Gautam Gambhir (PTI Photo) NEW CHANDIGARH: Rarely does Gautam Gambhir shed his game face. Friday morning, on the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, was no different. To begin with, this Test, which is not even part of the World Test Championship cycle, is largely a relationship-building exercise by the BCCI ‘big brothers’ to help Afghanistan cricket gain the exposure of playing a Test against a top team. However, it is a practice round for head coach Gambhir to cement his road map as he heads into the crucial nine months of the WTC cycle. Finding his team languishing in sixth place in the WTC points table is a harsh reality for Gambhir after defending the T20 World Cup three months ago. Gambhir takes offense when his team is referred to as a side in transition. Last year in Manchester he corrected the media and called the team inexperienced rather than in transition. He interrupted a question about the transition on Friday, bluntly saying: “The real transition happened in England. It was nine Tests. So it’s not a long phase. We lost two Tests against South Africa and that hurts. Consistency will be lacking because these are young guys.” India were reeling at the end of the last WTC cycle after Gambhir took over in 2024. Last year’s defeat to South Africa at home ruined the chances in this cycle as well. Any move from here will therefore resurrect the team’s chances of qualifying in the nine remaining WTC Test matches. So regular Test players have very little respite after a grueling IPL season. Gambhir chose to remind that Test cricket was taken very seriously even before the start of the WTC in 2019 and there is no reason why this Test should be treated any differently. After all, this is the first Test after a miserable capitulation against South Africa. Identification of the fourth spinner for the SL tour This matchup is an opportunity to plug a few holes in the resource pool. With the aging Ravindra Jadeja rested here, the team management is looking for another spinner for the two-Test series on the likely turning pitches of Sri Lanka in August. Two new left-arm spinners in Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar are basically on trial. “This is probably the only Test match where we can look at someone who could be the fourth spinner. After this we go to Sri Lanka and we might have to take four spinners there as well. So this is a perfect opportunity to try someone who could also be a long-term fourth spinner,” Gambhir said, hinting that whoever will play on Saturday could be the fourth spinner in the ranks after Sundar Yadav and Kuldeep Jadejadav. Prioritizing tests The team management, led by captain Shubman Gill, has been vocal about the short turnaround time before the Tests were awarded. Gill even demanded a 15-day window to prepare for the Test series. The team has this window before the tour of Sri Lanka. But the two Tests in New Zealand are scheduled on the heels of the five-T20I and five-ODI series. “We are very lucky that we have enough time before the Sri Lanka series after the England tour. That is enough time to prepare for these two Test matches. In New Zealand, there are only three days between the last ODI and the first Test match. We will have to withdraw the ODI players who are part of the Test squad,” Gambhir said. “We realized that we have to start preparing better in red-ball cricket and that was something that was missing against the West Indies and also against South Africa. And that is something we will continue to do,” he added. Long rope for Sudharsan Gambhir claimed that the team wanted to give a longer run to get a definitive batting option at No. 3. While there were question marks over Sudharsan’s performances, Gambhir hinted that the team may stick with Devdutt Padikkal with him as well. “I have always believed that we give the players a fair run. Sai is not in bad form. He has 700 runs in the IPL. If we judge a player only on four or five Tests, then I feel we will never be able to build anything. Whenever Devdutt’s time comes, we will also give him a fair run,” Gambhir said.