Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has made a bold statement for Gautam Gambhir and his coaching staff. He said that the head coach and his staff cannot be blamed for the manner in which Virat Kohli was dismissed.
Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir has been under extensive scrutiny following the team’s poor showing in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The coach, as well as the staff, was criticized, especially after the batsmen’s misses in the series.
Gautam Gambhir has been criticized for Virat Kohli’s failure
With senior batsman Virat Kohli and others struggling to get going, various pundits like Sunil Gavaskar, Sanjay Manjrekar and others have criticized Gautam Gambhir. They were of the opinion that the head coach and staff were doing nothing to improve the hitters.
Aakash Chopra highlighted Sanjay Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar’s comments, saying that Virat Kohli struggled with this line, saying that it cannot be said that the batter came out because Gautam Gambhir did not solve the problems.
You can’t say Virat Kohli is out because Gautam Gambhir hasn’t solved his problems – Aakash Chopra
Speaking in a video posted on his YouTube channel, he explained:
“Sunny bhai (Sunil Gavaskar) and Sanjay bhai (Manjrekar) said Virat Kohli’s off-stump problems are chronic problems. They said it should be addressed and asked what Abhishek Nayar and Gautam Gambhir were doing as part of the coaching staff.
“When you use the word chronic or you see a problem that doesn’t just exist today in isolation, that probably existed before, went away for a while and came back, can you blame the coaching department that’s only been there with this team for the last six months? You can’t to say that Virat Kohli is out because Gautam has not resolved his issues.”
If it’s a chronic problem – Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli struggled
Aakash Chopra further stated that Virat Kohli getting balls outside is a chronic problem which even the previous coaching staff has not been able to correct. He pointed out that Gambhir should not be the one who should be criticized because questions should also be asked about the previous coaching staff. He added:
“If it’s a chronic problem, like someone getting tied up on their front foot or someone’s reflexes getting slower, that wouldn’t happen in six months. So if you have to point a gun and shoot, you have to look to the last coach and staff, that no one talks about”
“I heard someone say – ‘I’m done talking about these players. I want accountability from the coaching staff because these are chronic problems.’ I would say, then you don’t ask that from this professional staff, but from the previous one, because that staff stayed for a long time and they had the opportunity to correct those shortcomings.”
Virat Kohli, who hit a century in Perth, failed in the last 4 matches of the series. It came out in a similar way to outside balls and was attacked by many.
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