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Things VVS Laxman Might Do Differently Than Gautam Gambhir As India Head Coach vs Zimbabwe

Abhinav Tyagi

VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir - (Source: AFP)VVS Laxman and Gautam Gambhir - (Source: AFP)

Following the shambolic UK tour, the focus has now shifted to Zimbabwe as the Men in Blue have arrived in Harare for the three-match T20I series starting on July 23. Shreyas Iyer will lead the side, but VVS Laxman has been named as the head coach for this series, replacing Gautam Gambhir.

Notably, the BCCI will hold a review meeting for the UK tour, but Laxman replacing Gambhir for the Zimbabwe tour is only to manage the workload. The pressure in on for Gautam Gambhir, because India have lost 8 matches in the last 10 games under his coaching.

The upcoming series is also important for VVS Laxman because a solid performance will also strengthen his case to be the next India coach. Hence, this article will shed light on three things VVS Laxman might do differently from Gautam Gambhir during the Zimbabwe tour.

1. Proper Utilisation Of Bowlers

One persistent issue with Gautam Gambhir has been that he relies too much on all-rounders. The former India opener opted for Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar as the all-rounders across five T20Is in England to fill 8 overs in a 20-over match.

Under Gautam Gambhir, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, and Prince Yadav were the three seamers used on a regular basis and playing against England with just three proper seamers didn’t make sense. Hence, VVS Laxman might opt for four or even five proper bowlers.

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The likes of Ashok Sharma, Yash Thakur, and Prince Yadav will be the three seamers alongside Ravi Bishnoi, who might be the fourth proper bowler in the playing XI. It allows Shivam Dube or Suryansh Shedge to be the 5th and 6th bowling options.

2. More Specialists Than All-Rounders

The entire UK tour was marred by the lack of batting in the lower middle-order. The dependency on all-rounders resulted in a lack of batting depth in the middle. The likes of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, and Shivam Dube have not turned up when it mattered the most for India, which resulted in embarrassment and shocking results.

For Zimbabwe tour, VVS Laxman would look to play more specialists in the middle-order. Rinku Singh will definitely be there in the playing XI, and Shivam Dube will also be told to focus more on his batting than bowling.

3. Fixed Entry Points

During the recently concluded UK tour, there was a lot of uncertainty among the players regarding their batting order. Only the top-order was fixed, but the middle-order was constantly changed without logic. 

During the 3rd T20I between India and England, Harshit Rana was sent ahead of Shivam Dube to bat. Similarly, there were many instances when Axar Patel was promoted ahead of the CSK all-rounder or the other way around.

However, VVS Laxman seems more sorted than Gautam Gambhir. The NCA head is likely to stick with a fixed batting order, which provides security to the batters and they get to play as per their roles and not feel out of place.

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