“When Virat Kohli was captain…”- Former IPL teammate slams Gautam Gambhir post India’s defeat vs South Africa
The former team-mate of the current Indian head coach, Gautam Gambhir, has slammed the performance of the current Test side besides comparing the team with Virat Kohli post the Blue Brigade's 30-run defeat against South Africa.
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India’s approach with the bat of chasing 124 runs in the fourth innings of the opening Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. They fell short by 30 runs with most of the batters lacking application with the bat against the opponent spinners, led by the 4-fer from the veteran off-spinner, Simon Harmer.
The former team-mate of the Indian head-coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the former wicket-keeper of Australia, Brad Haddin, addressed that in the leadership of Virat Kohli, the former captain of the Blue Brigade, the home side used to bat long and post a huge score on the board to rule out the opposition in the contest.
“When Virat Kohli took over as captain back then, they batted long and put scoreboard pressure. They are leaving too much to chance. It brings ordinary spinners into the game. You just have people who can throw the ball, and the wicket will do the rest. I heard that Gambhir came out and said we are happy with the surface we are playing on. This cost them against New Zealand as well.” Haddin expressed on the Willow Talk podcast.
Brad Haddin slams Gautam Gambhir post India’s 30-run defeat against South Africa in Kolkata
With the defeat, India slipped to the fourth position of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 points table. They have now lost four Tests at home in the last six appearances and would now need to win the second game at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati at any cost to survive a Test series at home.
“They’ve done it twice now under Gambhir. They play their best cricket when it’s not about turning wickets but building scoreboard pressure with their runs. They have taken their world-class batters out of the game. I just think they are leaving too much to chance.” Haddin shed light in the podcast.
India play their best cricket when they put a big total on the board, and then they make the opposition claustrophobic with their fields. Their spinners are better than anyone on that surface, but their batters are actually not that good players of spin on a surface like that.” The former Australia wicket-keeper concluded.
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