The Indian cricket team was forced to kneel before home crowds after being whitewashed 2-0 by South Africa. The decisions taken by head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have become the centre of intense discussion.
SNPNEWS.IN News (Gurmail Kamboj): On the fifth day of the Guwahati Test, South Africa defeated India by a massive 408 runs. To avoid a whitewash, India needed to bat solidly on the final day, but the entire team was bowled out for just 140 in 63.5 overs. For India, only Ravindra Jadeja (87 off 54) managed to cross the 20-run mark. After this 2-0 series defeat, the team selection and unnecessary experiments by coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have been identified as the primary reasons for India’s collapse.
India, a team long regarded as masters at playing spin at home, were made to dance to the tune of foreign spinners on their own soil. In the fourth innings of the second Test, South Africa’s off-spinner Simon Harmer destroyed India with figures of 6/37 in 23 overs. Harmer proved to be a nightmare throughout the series, picking up 17 wickets in just 2 Tests.
Read It: India’s Shameful Defeat, Gambhir’s Blunt Decisions Become Topic of Discussion
Gautam Gambhir was appointed head coach on 9 July 2024. Since then, India have played 19 Tests under him with extremely worrying results. Due to Gambhir’s stubbornness in team selection and favouritism towards certain players, senior stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and R Ashwin were forced into retirement.
India’s Performance Under Gambhir (Tests only):
● Bangladesh (home): Won 2-0
● New Zealand (home): Lost 0-3 (first home whitewash in 36 years)
● Australia (away): Lost 1-3 (5-match series)
● England (away): Drew 2-2 (5-match series)
● West Indies (home): Won 2-0
● South Africa (home): Lost 0-2 (whitewash)
In total, India have played 19 Tests in 6 home and away series under Gambhir:
7 wins – 10 losses – 2 draws
Winning percentage: 37% – the lowest in the last 25 years, inviting heavy criticism of Gambhir.
The most humiliating defeats include: Losing to England despite five Indian batsmen scoring centuries in the same Test The 408-run defeat in Guwahati against South Africa – one of the heaviest in India’s Test history.
Because of these consecutive losses, India currently sit 5th in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 points table.
Gambhir has repeatedly used the “transition phase” excuse, saying, “This is purely a transition period,” and that his future depends on the BCCI. However, the repeated home defeats have intensified criticism against him. Legendary players like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar have openly questioned Gambhir’s team selection and strategy.
The Gambhir-Agarkar combination is now being widely blamed for pushing the Indian Test team into its darkest phase in decades.