Gautam Gambhir defends himself as India’s all-format coach:Says, ‘Don’t interfere in others’ domain’ as split-coaching debate intensifies

India won the series 2-1 by defeating South Africa in the third ODI played in Visakhapatnam. In the post-match press conference, Indian men’s cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir reacted to the criticism that arose after the recently lost Test series 2-0. Gambhir said that many things were said after the Test loss, including some people who had no connection with cricket. Reacting to the demand for split coaching (separate coaches for different formats), he said that everyone should stick to their own field and not interfere in others’ work without understanding it. In fact, after India’s Test series loss, Parth Jindal, co-owner of IPL franchise Delhi Capitals, had questioned the selection of the Test team and suggested that India should appoint a separate coach for red-ball cricket. Also Read | Rohit Sharma completes 20,000 international runs Picked Gill’s injury in the first Test as the reason for the loss Gambhir said that the team played in difficult conditions in the first Test against South Africa. In the first Test, the team played without their captain. “Shubman Gill was out due to injury on the very first day and could not bat in both innings. We lost that match by just 30 runs. No one mentioned this,” Gambhir said. He further added that if a team is going through a transition period and at the same time a batsman like the captain, who is in form, gets injured, it is a big loss for any team. He said that the lack of experience in the team is clearly visible, but no one paid attention to it. Everyone’s attention was only on the wickets and the things visible from the outside. Praise for Rohit-Virat In the press conference, Gambhir spoke about Rohit-Virat’s performance and said, ‘Both of them have been performing like this for India for a long time and it is hoped that both will continue to do even more so in the white-ball (ODI) format in the coming future.’ Also Read | Kohli, Kuldeep’s couple dance, Rohit laughs off spinner’s DRS plea After being away from international cricket for about 9 months, Virat and Rohit made their comeback with the ODI series on the Australia tour. There, in the 3-match series, Rohit scored the most runs (203) and won the Player of the Series award, while Kohli, after being dismissed for a duck in 2 consecutive matches, scored 74 runs in the last match. Against South Africa, Virat scored the most runs (302) and won the Best Player of the Series award, while Rohit also scored 2 half-centuries.