Gautam Gambhir hasn’t had the best of starts as the coach of Team India. Under the stewardship of the former Indian opener, the side faced a defeat in the ODI series in Sri Lanka after 27 years and now the streak of not losing a Test series at home has been broken after twelve years. The head coach has drawn severe flak on social media following New Zealand’s win over India in the 2nd Test in Pune. As emotions are flaring, one of the leading commentators has given his opinion on whether the burden of India’s frustrating performance could be put on the shoulders of Gambhir.

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Sanjay Manjrekar Backs Gautam Gambhir As Head Coach Despite Defeat Against New Zealand

New head coach Gautam Gambhir has also come in the line of fire after India erred tactically and experienced repeated batting collapses in the two Tests but Sanjay Manjrekar backed the former opener.

According to Manjrekar, the coach’s role in the team is limited as he does not control the proceedings on the field, rather it is the captain who is in charge. He further stated that even the reserved player could have more impact on the game than the coach.

“I will still maintain that the coach has the minimal influence on a team, lesser than your 11th weakest player. He does not set foot on the ground, the captain is in-charge out there.

Manjrekar highlighted the contribution of Gautam Gambhir in the team’s selection and lauded the inclusion of Washington Sundar.

“But you have to applaud him for Washington Sundar’s selection, which was an immediate hit,” Manjrekar told ‘ESPNcricinfo’.

“But the move to send Washington ahead of Sarfaraz Khan or maybe four spinners here would have made more sense. But to put any kind of responsibility on the door of Gautam Gambhir would be terribly unfair because until now we can’t do it because in cricket, a coach has minimal influence on performances,” he added.