Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik has opened up on India head coach Gautam Gambhir’s role, highlighting the importance of results in shaping public opinion about the team. India registered a 3-2 T20I series win against the Kiwis after 2-2 series draw against the West Indies at home.
Gambhir has faced criticism over India’s performances and team preparations in recent months. However, the head coach believes that victories often determine how people judge the team’s overall performance and decisions.
“If we hadn’t won this series, no one would have talked about one practice session. Then everyone would have said, ‘Oh, how poor is this Indian team that everything has gone wrong after the World Cup’. That’s the reality. It’s no secret that in India, people see only results, nothing else,” Gautam Gambhir said after India’s T20I series win over New Zealand (via Cricinfo).
Kartik said Gambhir needs to wear a thick skin as the team’s results are always judged by the public, even more so in the social media era.
“Unfortunately, that is what you signed up for, and that is what you will get. Sometimes you need to have a very thick skin. Create a skin where nothing hits you. You have to become that sort of person. What social media has done, where anyone can say anything, unfortunately, this is what will happen. You have to insulate yourself from all of that and look at your own intentions. As a coach, you can only look at your intentions, and that is all that matters,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu praised Gautam Gambhir for producing the goods for the team despite working with four captains under his tenure.
“I think he is the only coach to work with 4 captains in such a short span of time. He has not had a settled side with him. It is a side in transition, and one great thing about Gautam Gambhir that I have felt, results aside, is his importance to the front of the jersey rather than the back of the jersey. The back of the jersey sells a lot of jerseys at the moment. But going forward, he wants the front of the jersey to have the utmost importance in Indian cricket,” Ambati Rayudu said.
India is currently leading New Zealand by 2-0 in the ODI series.
