'Coaches are not on the field' - Kapil Dev throws weight behind Gambhir after BGT setback
"The coaches are not on the field, but the captain and the team are on the ground," Kapil Dev said.
World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev analysed Gautam Gambhir's performance as the head coach of the Indian team so far. Under the former India openers coaching tenure, the Men in Blue lost an ODI series against Sri Lanka and consecutive Test series versus New Zealand (home) and Australia (away).
After India lost the five-match Test series against Australia by a 1-3 margin to relinquish the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, experts have started questioning Gambhir's role in the team. However, the Delhi-born has received support from Kapil, who said that the coaches do not step out onto the field and it is the players and the captain who have to eventually win matches for the team. The former all-rounder voiced his support for Gambhir and hoped that the team would turn things around under his guidance.
"The expectations are high. The coaches are not on the field, but the captain and the team are on the ground. A new coach will come out with his own ideas and hope it will serve the country in a better sense. If he’s not, then people will raise their finger," Kapil told Gulf News via Hindustan Times.
"Gambhir is a slightly temperamental person. He’s different from Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid. Every coach has his own way of thinking, so let’s hope he will do better for the country," he added.
'They are very big players' - Kapil Dev on Kohli, Rohit
Apart from Gambhir, experienced batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have also come under scrutiny after they finished with meagre averages of 23.75 and 6.20, respectively, on the tour of Australia. Kapil, however, believes that the two cricketers will know when the time is right to bid farewell to the game.
"They are very big players. Let’s hope when they think it’s the right time to play, when they think it’s not, they will call it off," said Kapil via News18.
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