Gautam Gambhir didn’t name anyone following India’s humiliating 408-run defeat against South Africa in the second Test at Guwahati, but his veiled attack on stand-in captain Rishabh Pant was not quite difficult to decipher. In a feisty 15-minute presser at the Barsapara Stadium on Wednesday, frustration was written all over Gambhir’s face as he accused Pant of “playing to the gallery.”
India had begun Day 3 on a strong platform at 95 for one, but the innings collapsed in an astonishing manner. In no time, they were down to 122 for seven, as Marco Jansen ripped through the lineup with a six-wicket burst. Pant was among the key wickets that fell – charging recklessly down the pitch for a big swing when stability was desperately needed for the team. Even Sunil Gavaskar seemed shocked at the nature of his dismissal.
“You don’t blame one individual shot. You don’t blame one individual playing in a certain way. You blame everyone. So, me talking about an individual, I’ve never done that. I am not going to do it.”
Afterwards, when Gambhir was asked if he did expect more from Pant, who is on the cusp of his 50th Test, he did not hold back. Without naming him, Gambhir spoke about stronger temperament, better technique, patience, sacrifice, and prioritising the team over theatrics. His pointed remark of “not playing for the gallery” made the target of his criticism fairly obvious.
“The reality is, we still need to improve a lot in red ball cricket. Whether it’s mentally, whether it’s technically, whether it’s absorbing pressure, whether it’s sacrificing, whether it’s putting the team ahead of your individual self. And most importantly, not playing for the gallery,” he added.
Now asked directly about accountability, Gambhir gave no room for doubt when answering who he was referring to.
“It comes from care. What you care about the dressing room, how much you care about the dressing room and the team. Because accountability and the game situation can never be taught,” Gambhir said.
“… Ultimately when you go in, if you keep putting the team ahead of your own self, not thinking that this is how I play, and this is how I will get the results, and this is how I play, I don’t want to play the second, I don’t have plan B. So, sometimes, you will get these kind of collapses as well,” the head coach’s statement could have only been pointed at one man.
“How much you care about Indian cricket and how much you care about the team and people sitting in the dressing room is important as well,” Gambhir concluded
