NEW CHANDIGARH: Seldom does Gautam Gambhir shed his game face. Friday morning, the eve of the one-off Test against Afghanistan, was no different. At the outset, this Test, which is not even a part of the World Test Championship cycle, is largely a relationship-building exercise by ‘big brothers’ BCCI to help Afghanistan cricket gain exposure of playing a Test against a top team. For head coach Gambhir, though, it is a practice round to firm up the roadmap as they head into a decisive nine months of the WTC cycle. Finding his team languishing sixth in the WTC points table is a rude reality check for Gambhir after the high of defending the T20 World Cup in his last assignment three months ago. Gambhir takes offence when his team is referred to as a side in transition. In Manchester last year, he corrected the media and called the team an inexperienced one instead of one in transition. On Friday, he interrupted a query on transition and sternly responded: “The actual transition happened in England. It’s been nine Test matches. So, it’s not a long phase. We lost two Test matches against South Africa and that hurts. The consistency will be missing because these are young boys.” India floundered at the back end of the last WTC cycle after Gambhir took charge in 2024. The defeat against South Africa at home last year has dented the chances in this cycle as well. Hence, every move from here on will be to resurrect the team’s chances of qualifying in the nine remaining WTC Test matches. Thus, there is very little reprieve for the regular Test players coming off a gruelling IPL season. Gambhir chose to remind that Test cricket was taken very seriously even before WTC started in 2019 and there’s no reason why this Test should be treated differently. After all, this is the first Test after the abject surrender against South Africa. Identifying fourth spinner for SL tour This match is an opportunity to plug a few holes in the resource pool. With the ageing Ravindra Jadeja being rested here, the team management is hunting for an extra spinner for the two-Test series on presumably turning pitches in Sri Lanka in August. The two new left-arm spinners in Harsh Dubey and Manav Suthar are essentially on trial. “This probably is the only Test match where we can look at someone who could be a fourth spinner. We go to Sri Lanka after this and we might have to carry four spinners as well there. So, this is an ideal opportunity to try someone who could be a long-term fourth spinner as well,” Gambhir said, hinting that whoever plays on Saturday could be the fourth spinner in the ranks after Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. Prioritising Tests The team management, led by captain Shubman Gill, have been vocal about the small turnaround time before marquee Test assignments. Gill has even gone on to demand a 15-day window to prepare for a Test series. The team has got that window ahead of the Sri Lanka tour. But the two Tests in New Zealand are scheduled on the heels of five-T20I and five-ODI series. “We’re very fortunate that we’ve got enough time before the Sri Lanka series after the England tour. That’s enough time to prepare for those two Test matches. In New Zealand, there are only three days between the last ODI and the first Test match. We will have to pull out ODI players who are part of the Test squad,” Gambhir said. “We’ve realized that we need to start preparing better in red-ball cricket and that was something which was lacking against West Indies and also against South Africa. And that is something which we’re going to do going forward,” he added. Long rope for Sudharsan Gambhir asserted that the team wants to give a longer run to get a definitive batting option at No. 3. While there have been question marks over Sudharsan’s performances, Gambhir indicated that the team may stick with him over Devdutt Padikkal. “I’ve always believed we give the players a fair run. Sai is not in bad form. He’s got 700 runs in IPL. If we judge players by only four or five Tests, then I feel that we will never be able to build something. Whenever Devdutt’s time comes, we’ll give him a fair run as well,” Gambhir said.
