New Delhi: As a coach has minimal influence on performances, Gautam Gambhir shouldn’t be blamed for India’s Test series to New Zealand, believes former national team batter Sanjay Manjrekar.
India lost both the opening matches of their three-games series to the Kiwis for their first series loss at home since 2012-13, ending a run of 18 consecutive wins.
Gambhir took over the mantle of the team after the T20 World Cup in June and led them to a Test series victory against Bangladesh before the loss the New Zealand.
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Manjrekar said the onus of failure should be on the players, particularly the senior ones, rather than Gambhir, who is still trying to find his team in his first assignment as head coach in international cricket.
“I will still maintain that the coach has the minimal influence on a team, lesser than your 11th weakest player. He does not set foot on the ground, the captain is in-charge out there.
“But you have to applaud him for Washington Sundar’s selection, which was an immediate hit,” Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.
Gambhir has been criticised for tactical errors and the manner in which India’s experienced batting line-up suffered repeated batting collapses in Bengaluru and Pune.
“The move to send Washington ahead of Sarfaraz Khan or maybe four spinners here would have made more sense. But to put any kind of responsibility on the door of Gautam Gambhir would be terribly unfair because until now we can’t do it because in cricket, a coach has minimal influence on performances,” he added.
The former right hander batter though thought it was “bizarre” to send all-rounder Washington Sundar to bat ahead of in-form Sarfaraz Khan in the second innings.
“The move to have Sarfaraz Khan bat down the order and sending Washington Sundar above him because he is a left-hander, those kind of things shouldn’t happen,” Manjrekar said.
“It’s just bizarre. That’s one thing that Rohit Sharma needs to be careful of…the T20 thinking of match ups left hand-right hand combinations. I think he should just go by the overall quality and ability of players.”
