India Coach Gautam Gambhir Faces Growing Pressure Ahead Of Second England Test

India Coach Gautam Gambhir Faces Growing Pressure Ahead Of Second England Test (Image Source: AFP)

Gautam Gambhir is under growing pressure ahead of the second Test against England after India's loss at Headingley made it seven defeats in 11 red-ball matches since he became coach last year.

The 43-year-old former opening batsman is facing flak from some quarters for his selections, man management and how he carries himself in press conferences.

India are ushering in a new era following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, with Gambhir widely reported to have played a part in the exit of at least one of the two veteran stars.

Led by new captain Shubman Gill, the visitors were beaten by five wickets in the opening Test of the five-match England series, adding to a growing sense of alarm.

The second Test at Edgbaston starts on Wednesday and patience is wearing thin back home.

"Gautam Gambhir is under significant pressure. The situation is becoming increasingly tense," former India batsman Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

"He has managed two wins against Bangladesh and one against Australia, but we've lost three matches to New Zealand, three to Australia and now one to England.

"He has been losing and losing."

Gambhir, who as a player had a key role in India's ODI World Cup triumph in 2011, succeeded Rahul Dravid in July last year.

Dravid signed off a largely successful three-year tenure by winning the T20 World Cup.

Gambhir was chosen as his successor almost exactly a year ago but he and his side suffered a significant bloody nose when they went down 3-0 to New Zealand.

It was India's first Test series defeat at home in 12 years.

- 'Aggressive' -

Along with chief selector Ajit Agarkar, Gambhir was criticised for leaving middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan out of the squad for England.

Karun Nair was picked ahead of Sarfaraz, who had scores of 68 not out and 56 against a visiting England last year, and made 150 versus New Zealand in Bengaluru.

Gambhir's detractors say he is hot-headed and accuse him of acting too much on instinct.

Speaking ahead of the series, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said that "tactically, Gauti (Gambhir) is a very good coach.

"Man management is the area that I am sure he would be looking at," he told Sky Sports' cricket podcast.

"But one thing about him is that he is looking out for his players, which is massive.

"What I feel at times is that the way he is aggressive as a captain, you can't be as a coach."

Critics don't like Gambhir's press conferences.

Following the defeat at Headingley, Gambhir looked ruffled and snapped in reply to a question about Rishabh Pant's centuries in each innings.

The visiting batsmen scored five centuries in the match but still lost.

Former batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Gambhir should be kept away from the media, after the coach bit back at Ricky Ponting ahead of the tour to Australia last year.

India went on to lose the series 3-1.

- Bumrah mismanaged? -

On the last day of the first England Test, when the hosts chased down 371, senior batsman KL Rahul and Gill's deputy Pant were seen making the fielding changes, rather than the skipper.

In the final overs it appeared pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah rejected Gill's idea of bringing him back into the attack.

Bumrah, who will only play two more Tests in the series to manage his workload, returned figures of 5-83 in England's first innings of 465 but went wicketless second time around.

A fit, firing and content Bumrah is key to India's chances.

South African great AB de Villiers questioned whether it was "mismanagement" or injury that was the cause of Bumrah being rested at a crucial point of the match.

Lack of bowling support for Bumrah and India's lower-order collapses -- from 430-3 to 471 all out in the first innings and 333-4 to 364 in the second -- also hurt the team in Leeds.

In a country where cricket is an obsession and every match is dissected for days afterwards, Gambhir needs to quickly find some answers.