Gautam Gambhir Takes Drastic Step Before Afghanistan Series As India's WTC Hopes Deter

Gautam Gambhir-led management takes a drastic step [Source: AFP]

The Gautam Gambhir-led team management has taken a drastic step ahead of the Afghanistan series, with India's chances of qualifying for the WTC finals steadily deteriorating in Test cricket. 

Despite enjoying stellar success in white-ball cricket, Gautam Gambhir has yet to prove his mettle as a red-ball coach for the Indian Test team. 

India have suffered humiliating whitewashes at the hands of South Africa and New Zealand, with their shambolic performance on home soil significantly denting their World Test Championship campaign. 

As the Indian players prepare for a gruelling Test season, which kicks off with a one-off fixture against Afghanistan, the Gautam Gambhir-led think tank has taken a drastic decision to not only restore India's Test glory but also keep their WTC hopes alive. 

India's WTC final dreams challenged as Bangladesh overtake Shubman Gill's men

Led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, Bangladesh registered a clinical clean sweep over Pakistan in a two-match Test series at home. The Tigers' emphatic win significantly boosted their PCT, helping them overtake India in the WTC points table. 

With only nine matches left in the cycle, India are on the edge of the knife as far as their WTC final ambitions are concerned. 

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While they are scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka and New Zealand for a two-match Test series, India will play five of their remaining fixtures on home soil. So, Shubman Gill and his men would be keen to capitalise on home advantage when they face Australia in a riveting Border-Gavaskar Trophy next year. 

Failure to exploit home conditions: Biggest factor behind India's WTC rut

Interestingly, the Indian Test team's failure to exploit the home conditions has been a major factor behind its underwhelming performance in the current WTC cycle. 

Gautam Gambhir's tenure as India's Test coach has been marred by the team's shambolic returns on home soil, as they have lost five out of their last seven Tests in their own backyard. 

Statistically, India have a success rate of 50 per cent after four home Tests in the WTC 2025-27 edition.

The Indian batters have been comprehensively outplayed by the opponent bowlers on spin-friendly tracks, with the likes of Mitchell Santner and Simon Harmer helping the touring sides breach the fortress and script historic Test series wins on Indian soil. 

Therefore, according to the Times of India, the Gautam Gambhir-led team management has asked for pitches that will undergo gradual wear and tear rather than red-soil tracks, which tend to deteriorate from the opening day of a Test match. 

Indian management set to avoid red-soil pitches in home Tests

Considering India have been beaten comprehensively on turning tracks, the Gautam Gambhir-led think tank has reportedly demanded pitches with more black-soil content for the upcoming home Tests. 

According to the Times of India, the venues for India's upcoming home Tests have been selected keeping the pitches, soil and playing conditions in mind. 

"Mullanpur, Nagpur, Chennai, Guwahati, Ranchi and Ahmedabad are the venues for India's next six home Tests, and they have been carefully selected keeping the pitches, soil and conditions in mind," a BCCI source was quoted as saying by TOI. 

"Most of these venues offer red, black and mixed-soil options, but all of them can produce tracks that will last five days. Our batters haven't looked comfortable playing on turners that start breaking from Day 1, and early finishes are not broadcaster-friendly either," he added. 

Therefore, the pitches for the one-off Test against Afghanistan and the five Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches will be traditional Indian decks with greater black-soil content. The black soil has a higher water retention capacity than the red soil. 

Therefore, a pitch with a higher black-soil content tends to last longer than red-soil tracks, which undergo rapid deterioration and bring the spinners into play from day 1. 

This move is aimed at giving the Indian team the best possible chance to win home Tests and stay alive in the race to the WTC final. 

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