Gautam Gambhir slams split coaching theories, calls them “surprising”

India head coach Gautam Gambhir criticised social media theories on split coaching after India’s Test series loss to South Africa. He highlighted Shubman Gill’s absence in the first Test and urged opinion-makers to stay in their domain, defending his red-ball coaching record

Visakhapatnam: India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Saturday dismissed social media theories about split coaching as “surprising” and urged opinion-makers to stay “in their domain.”

Following India’s 0-2 Test series defeat against South Africa, some influential voices, including an IPL team owner, suggested appointing separate coaches for red-ball and white-ball formats.

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“But the most surprising thing is that not once did any media or journalist write that our first Test match (in Kolkata) was played without the captain Shubman Gill, who didn’t bat in both innings due to a neck injury,” Gambhir said after India clinched the ODI series 2-1 against South Africa.

He added that remarks unrelated to on-field cricketing matters were unwarranted. “An IPL team owner also wrote about split coaching. It’s very important for people to stay in their domain. If we don’t go into someone’s domain, they don’t have the right to come into ours.”

Gambhir also defended his record as red-ball coach, stressing that India were in transition and missing their captain and key batter. “Results are difficult when you don’t have that much experience in red-ball cricket. The surprising thing is no one even talked about it. All the discussions were about wickets,” he noted.