A new report has made an important revelation about Gautam Gambhir’s future as the head coach of the Indian national cricket team across all formats.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had approached batting great VVS Laxman for the post of Test head coach following India’s series loss to South Africa, reports have claimed.
Gautam Gambhir struggles as India head coach in Tests
Since becoming the all-format head coach, Gautam Gambhir has led Team India to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and Asia Cup 2025 in a very short span of time.
India have shown their dominance in T20I cricket and instilled fear in the minds of opposition teams, and in ODIs they have done well under the leadership of Gambhir.
However, when it comes to Test cricket, things have been quite disappointing and disappointing. In the purest format of the game, India have struggled miserably under Gautam Gambhir, and a lot of questions have been raised over the head coach’s tactics.
Gambhir has been criticized for relying too much on all-rounders in a format that requires specialists to get the job done. Furthermore, the head coach has tried to implement a T20I-style formula in Test cricket, which did not work and India suffered a shocking Test series defeat.
Gautam Gambhir oversees whitewash in 2 home Test series
In his first Test series as head coach on home soil, Gambhir led India to a 2–0 win over Bangladesh. However, what happened next was terrible as the Indians were defeated by the Kiwis at home. This was the first time in cricket history that India had to suffer a 0-3 clean sweep on home soil.
After this, India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 1-3. The new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship began with the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England and a young Indian team drew the series 2-2.
Things started looking good after that as India defeated West Indies 2-0 at home, but the hosts suffered another blow when Temba Bavuma-led South Africa gave India a 2-0 clean sweep.
BCCI considered VVS Laxman as replacement for Gautam Gambhir.
Now, a PTI report has revealed that someone of importance in the BCCI had once again informally approached VVS Laxman to check if he was interested in becoming the Test head coach after India’s loss to South Africa.
VVS Laxman, who was initially seen as Rahul Dravid’s successor as head coach, refused the job and said he was happy to be the ‘head of cricket’ at the center of excellence in Bengaluru.
Gautam Gambhir has signed a deal till the 2027 ODI World Cup, but that contract may end prematurely depending on India’s performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, as the jury is still out on whether he is the right man to remain at the helm, especially in Test cricket.
“Gambhir has strong support in the power corridors of Indian cricket, and obviously, if India retain the T20 World Cup or at least reach the final, he will continue his work seamlessly. However, it would be interesting if Gambhir continues in Tests as well,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
“His advantage is that there are not too many alternative options in the red-ball format as VVS Laxman is not interested in coaching the senior Test team,” the source said.
The report also claims that there is an atmosphere of chaos in the Indian dressing room at the moment and the players are not feeling as safe as they did during Rahul Dravid’s tenure.
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