“Don’t judge his acumen or his commitment” – Sunil Joshi defends head coach Gautam Gambhir after home Test series whitewash to NZ

Former Indian all-rounder Sunil Joshi has put his weight behind Gautam Gambhir after a home Test series loss against New Zealand. Gambhir took over the coaching baton from Rahul Dravid but India suffered a 2-0 ODI series loss against Sri Lanka.

Subsequently, India was thoroughly dominated by New Zealand in the three-match Test series. The Kiwis won the opening Test by eight wickets at Bengaluru and then took the second and third Tests by 113 and 25 runs respectively.

Former Indian selector Joshi reckons it will be too harsh to judge Gambhir this early into his coaching stint.

“Knowing Gautam Gambhir, he is a fighting cricketer and we know his commitment towards the game or towards the team. No coach will ever want to be on the wrong side of a result. We need to give him time. Let’s now judge by the two series we have seen, just five Test matches. Of course, on home soil, we have lost. I am sure he will also be disappointed with the way the Test matches have gone, but don’t judge his acumen or his commitment,” Joshi said in an interview with TOI.

“He is a fighter and he will come out successful. I know that. We have to give time to them (Gambhir and his coaching staff) to settle down. After two years, the results will be in front of us. Then we can judge.”

India now has a stern test ahead of themselves as they will take on Australia in a five-match Border-Gavaskar trophy. Joshi wants the team to take one game at a time in Australia.

“We won the last two series in Australia. That is something we need to factor, but do not underestimate Australia because we won the last two series. Winning is not impossible, it’s quite possible. We do have the bowling options and batsmen who can score runs. Take one Test match at a time and focus on the process part more than the results part,” said Joshi.

“The Australians know that India has lost a Test series 3-nil. The pressure is always more on the visiting team. So we need to be prepared to play absolute hard cricket.”

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.