'You Are Creating Insecurity': Zaheer Khan Sounds Alarm On Team India Head Coach Gautam Gambhir's 'Flexible' Strategy
Ex-India Star Zaheer Khan isn't a fan of Gautam Gambhir's strategy for Team India, as he believes it could not settle well for the side and would haunt them.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
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Gautam Gambhir has had his head in the target zone ever since he became the head coach of Team India. While the team's performance has been picking up white-ball cricket, their primary challenge would be the ICC Champions Trophy. Gambhir's strategy has come under fire lately as the sudden changes in the players' positions have left the fans and pundits scratching their heads. Zaheer Khan raised concerns over Gambhir's perplexing strategy as he believes it would come back to bite them.
Zaheer Khan Perplexed Over Gautam Gambhir's Peculiar Strategy As CT Approaches
Former India cricketer Zaheer Khan questioned Gautam Gambhir's flexibility tactics, which include using different batters in certain positions and shaking up the opening duo during International match-ups. Uncertainty over Team India's openers in the ODI format emerged when Yashasvi Jaiswal was dropped from the 2nd match against England. Even Axar Patel was sent a spot ahead of his usual position, while KL Raul was demoted as the management is looking for a reliable batter in the middle order. Zaheer was sceptical of Gambhir's strategy and believed that some protocol needed to be adhered to. He also claimed that the head coach was causing insecurity among the players, and it could hurt them in the future.
"You've said that you've got to have the flexibility. Number one and two will be there, but the others are going to be flexible. Within that flexibility, some rules also apply. There are certain protocols you have to follow. Certain communication needs to happen, which is gonna streamline things. Otherwise, you are creating insecurity, which, at some stage, will come back and hurt you. You don't want it to be the case. So you've got to be prepared to deal with that situation," Zaheer told Cricbuzz.
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Gautam Gambhir's Role As Head Coach: A Boon for Indian Cricket?
The inclusion of Gautam Gambhir as the Indian Cricket Team's head coach drew mixed reactions. Trouble arose when the Indian side suffered a historic whitewash during an away tour in Sri Lanka. The Men In Blue's woes continued as they suffered their first-ever test series defeat at home at the hands of New Zealand. Before their series loss, India had won 18 straight Test series at home. Their woes continued in Australia as they failed to defend the BGT title while Down Under.
On the contrary, India has been doing well in T20I cricket as Suryakumar Yadav, who was elected as India's limited-over captain after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format, has been doing well. The Men in Blue have also been doing decent in ODIs as they have gained an unassailable 2-0 lead against England.
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With the Champions Trophy approaching soon, India needs to remain in form before they begin their campaign in Dubai on 20th February against Bangladesh.