Former India batter Suresh Raina has defended head coach Gautam Gambhir from criticism. He stated that the team’s recent poor performance in home Tests should not be blamed on the support staff.
India faced a surprising whitewash at home by New Zealand last year. They are now under pressure in the ongoing series against South Africa after losing the first match.
Raina insisted that the players must take responsibility for the results. He emphasized that the coach can only guide and advise.
Raina Stresses Player Responsibility
“Gauti bhaiya (Gautam Gambhir) has worked really hard and he is not at all at fault. The players have to work really hard and play well. Under him we have been doing great in the white-ball format where we just won the ICC Champions Trophy and Asia Cup in Dubai earlier this year,” Raina was quoted as saying to PTI.
“The players have to score, the coach can only guide, advise and give support to the players,” he said at the Indian Softball Cricket League’s jersey launch.
Raina dismissed any suggestion that Gambhir’s job is at risk due to the team’s form. “If they (the players) are facing any issues, they must be communicating to the coach that this is the issue. If the players do well then the coach will be also applauded. But if the team is not doing well, it should not be that the coach should be sacked from his post,” he said.
“I have played with Gautam bhaiya, he loves Indian cricket team, he loves cricket, I have played and won the World Cup with him. So, he has done really well for the country and it is the players’ responsibility to do well,” he added.
Raina On Team Selection Debate
On the topic of team selection, Raina stressed that domestic cricket should be the primary criterion. “They should play domestic cricket regularly and do well there, if they do well that will automatically reflect in their performances at the international level,” he said.
He also pointed to the challenges of a busy international schedule and frequent format changes. “Also the planning of the series can be better because you have to quickly switch formats from white ball and suddenly you are playing red-ball cricket again so the players I believe have less time in hand.”
Raina expressed optimism for the upcoming ODI series, noting the return of senior players. “Ro-Ko (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) will be back, yes. They did well in Australia and will surely strengthen the ODI squad against South Africa. Both of them are great ambassadors for world and Indian Cricket.”
“When they’ll be in the side then the atmosphere will be different, Rishabh Pant is also back after a while so it will be fun to watch the ODI series,” Raina added. Suresh Raina defended head coach Gautam Gambhir, shifting blame to players for India’s recent Test losses.
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