New Delhi, July 1 Former England spinner Monty Panesar has pointed out important concerns regarding Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as India head coach, citing the team’s issues, with bowling as the primary reason behind the increasing doubt on his role.
India will be hoping to level the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the second Test against England at the Edgbaston Stadium starting July 2. All eyes will be on the Shubman Gill-led side after they lost the first Test despite holding much of the advantage after the first innings. In the five-wicket loss, India became the first team to lose a Test despite having five batters score hundreds.
In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Panesar spoke on the importance of picking a bowling lineup that can deliver in England.
"The problem is that if Gautam has the ability to make his team into a good batting unit, he then needs to show the ability can make the team into a good bowling unit. Fans are going to troll. They're going to come after Gautam Gambhir. When India were 400 plus, India should have won the Test match. But the question is, 'Is Gautam Gambhir a good coach to make the bowling good? Does he have the ability? ' He needs to show that.
“He needs to now think, right, I know how to get the batting to fire, but as a coach, can I pick the team to take 20 wickets? That's his biggest challenge right now in England, and if he is not able to demonstrate that, then I think the BCCI will slowly, Test by Test match, assess him, and they'll just think, you know, what should we do after the end of the series? His biggest challenge is going to be to pick the right attack for every venue to take 20 wickets,” Panesar told IANS.
The former left-handed opening batter was appointed as India’s head coach following Rahul Dravid’s departure. Since his appointment, India have won only three of their 11 Tests played - 2-0 win vs Bangladesh and 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy - which also led to India falling out of the top two in the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
When asked to predict the conditions at Edgbaston, Panesar revealed he expects it to be a turning wicket which will help Kuldeep Yadav or Washington Sundar, with the former England cricketer advising team India to bring in one of these two as the frontline spinners.
“It's going to be a turning wicket. Edgbaston is dry. We won't see much grass from the wicket. I think it will help India. The Edgbaston wicket will suit India. India just need to work out, right? Batting isn't the problem. It's bowling. We need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match. That's the most important thing, and Shubhman Gill did say, ‘I will pick 5-4 tailenders, but an attack that can take 20 wickets.’
“From that point of view, I think Prasidh Krishna bowls too short, maybe give him a rest. Bumrah, I think, will rest anyway. Kuldeep Yadav comes in, or Washington Sundar, one of the other, to play an extra spinner. Ashdeep Singh has to play. Left arm seam, I think that will cause problems for the England team. Then, they have Mohammed Siraj, maybe Shardul Thakur could play,” he added.
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