Young Indian batsman Sarfaraz Khan was recently accused of leaking dressing room information to the media during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India chief selector Gautam Gambhir has accused Sarfaraz of leaking information, according to a report in News 24.
The report claimed that Gambhir had named Sarfaraz as the culprit behind the dressing room leak during a review with BCCI officials on January 11. Captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were also present in the meeting.
However, the incident has now taken a new turn. Sarfaraz is not believed to be responsible for the locker room leak. Instead, Gambhir’s own assistant coach was accused of leaking the news to the media.
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Sarfaraz Khan is not responsible for the leaks from the Indian dressing room
According to journalist Abhishek Tripathi of Dainik Jagran, India’s assistant coach has been named in the leaked reports along with the player. Also, the journalist believes that the assistant coach gave away information about the Indian dressing room. Although the name of the assistant coach is not clear, there are chances that Abhishek Nayar or Ryan ten Doeschate are the culprits here.
Gautam Gambhir’s support staff has two assistant coaches in the form of Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate. Although ten Doeschate has no deeper connection with the Indian media, Abhishek Nayar is a well-known name in Indian cricket.
Gautam Gambhir blames Sarfaraz Khan for all the leaks, but it’s actually his assistant coach who breaks the news pic.twitter.com/Pk5aXSvBVh
— Jenil Modi (@Jenil1903) January 15, 2025
Gautam Gambhir lashed out at Team India
The leakage incident in the dressing room happened after the fourth Test between Australia and India in Melbourne. A report in the Indian Express claimed that Gautam Gambhir lashed out at the team for the poor performance that cost them the match.
Another incident ‘Mr. Fix it made headlines with Team India’s senior player going to Gambhir and promising him that everything would be fine if he was given the captaincy. Although not confirmed about that player, it was probably one of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
When Gambhir was later asked about the leak at a press conference, he made it clear that the conversations inside the dressing room should not come out at any cost. At that time, he did not accuse anyone, but he warned that it must not happen again.
What happened in Melbourne?
India lost the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in disappointing fashion as they lost seven wickets in the final session on Day 5. The match was poised for a draw after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant survived the second session without losing a wicket.
However, Panta’s wicket turned the game around and Australia found a way to get back into the game. Pant was out as he tried to play an aggressive long-hop shot from Travis Head. The collapse began as India lost seven wickets to lose the match.
Gautam Gambhir was extremely disappointed as he felt that India were in a good position to draw the Test match. Even after the Sydney Test, when India had already lost the series 1-3, Gambhir singled out the moment in Melbourne as one that India could not let slip.
