Never expected easy run as coach: Gambhir on rocky start to India tenure

Gautam Gambhir has claimed that he wasn't expecting an easy run as the India coach after a rocky start to his tenure. Gambhir has suffered series losses to Sri Lanka away from home and New Zealand in India after taking over.

In Short

• Gambhir's coaching tenure has started with mixed results
• Gambhir said it is a tough spot to be in and only thing to do is keep working hard
• Gambhir's big test as India coach will be the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in November

Gautam Gambhir claimed that he wasn't expecting a very easy run for him as the India coach after a rocky start to his tenure. Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as the head coach following India's T20 World Cup win after the fine work he had done as the mentor of KKR in the IPL 2024 season. Gambhir would have a great start to life as India won their T20I series against Sri Lanka away from home but it was followed a 2-0 loss in the ODIs against the same opponents.

India would then win the Test and T20I series against Bangladesh, but the home series loss to New Zealand meant that the start for the former opener hasn't been a great one. Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Mumbai Test, Gambhir said that it was not a good spot to be in after losing the series to the Blackcaps and all they could do is keep working hard and look to win every game they play.

"I never expected a very easy run for me. I know that we lost in Sri Lanka and against NZ and it is not a good place to be. All we can do is keep working hard and we will try winning every game that we play to represent the country," said Gambhir.

Gambhir also said stressed the need for empathy while dealing with players under pressure to perform.

"I realise its a complete different thing when you were playing and now as a coach, need to put your arm around the players."

No new faces in India squad

Gambhir also confirmed that there were no new faces in the India squad, after reports had emerged that Harshit Rana was going to be included and given a debut in Mumbai. The India coach said that they're not in a situation to think about such a call and Harshit is in the side to prepare for the Australia tour.

"We are not in a situation where can think of that ,"

"Harshit Rana is not part of the squad. He has just come here to prepare for the Australia tour, Abhishek made it clear yesterday. IPL retention has nothing to be spoken about, we have a Test match here."

"Everyone is available for selection, we will take a call tomorrow," said Gambhir.

After the New Zealand series, Gambhir's next big Test will be the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which will begin on November 22.