Former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina has come to the defense of India coach Gautam Gambhir, saying it is unfair to blame his former teammate for India’s struggles in Test cricket. Raina said it was the batsmen’s responsibility to score runs and added that the coach’s role was simply to help them train and guide the team in different situations.
Quite a few took to social media to urge the BCCI to sack Gautam Gambhir as India’s Test coach, even as India are in danger of being whitewashed at home in a Test series for the second time in as many years. After New Zealand obliterated India 3-0 last year and made history by becoming the first visiting team to do so on Indian soil, South Africa are on the verge of a 2-0 equaliser.
After winning the series opener in Kolkata by 30 runs in a low-scoring affair, world Test champions South Africa moved into a position of strength on the penultimate day of the second Test in Guwahati. South Africa made 489 in their first innings and bowled out India for 201. With a lead of 288 runs, South Africa decided to push for the follow-on and batted again. They declared at 260 for 5, setting India a target of 547 runs.
While India were beaten by the South African bowlers in the first Test, the batsmen’s inability to survive quality spells of the spin was exposed. In the second Test, the Indian batsmen lacked the patience to grind it out on a good batting pitch. While South Africa batted for over 100 overs in the first innings, India lasted just over 80 overs and were bowled out for just 201, with off-spinner Kuldeep Yadav facing the most deliveries – 134 balls.
“Gauti bhaiya (Gautam Gambhir) has worked really hard and he cannot be blamed for that at all. Players have to work really hard and play well. We have done great under him in the white-ball format where we won the ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup in Dubai just this year,” Raina told news agency PTI on Tuesday, November 23.
“The players have to score, the coach can only guide, advise and support the players,” he added.
“I played with Gautam bhaiyya, he loves the Indian cricket team, he loves cricket. I played with him and won the World Cup with him. So he has done really well for the country and it is the responsibility of the players to do well,” he added.
Guns were trained on Gautam Gambhir as several pointed out the glaring inconsistencies in selection and lack of vision for the Test team. India have lost four of their last six home Tests under Gambhir. India have won just three of the 10 overseas Tests in the ongoing cycle, losing 1-3 in Australia and managing a 2-2 draw in England.
While Raina believes the coach is not responsible for the batting failures, many have highlighted the lack of consistent run for the batsmen during Gambhir’s tenure. India struggled to identify the No. 3 battersand the likes of Karun Nair and Sarfaraz Khan, who were great runners in domestic cricket, were not given the long rope.
Gambhir’s preference for all-rounders in the Test side also came under scrutiny when the legendary Sunil Gavaskar urged the team management to understand the difference between all-rounders in limited-overs and Test cricket.
RAINA CALLS FOR BETTER PREPARATION
However, Raina acknowledged that India need to prepare better for the Test series at home.
“Also, the planning of the series can be better because you have to switch formats quickly from the white ball and suddenly you are playing red ball cricket again, so I believe the players have less time,” he said.
“The players should also improve their application in the middle, I hope they have noticed all this,” he said.
While New Zealand visited India after playing a Test series in Sri Lanka last year, South Africa came to India after drawing the Test series 1-1 in Pakistan. India, on the other hand, had less than a week between their T20I series in Australia and the home Test series against the Test world champions.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
November 25, 2025
