Former Australian captain Tim Paine criticised Gautam Gambhir for his coaching style ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series. Paine called Gambhir ‘prickly’ and felt that he could not be a great fit into the Indian team as head coach. He also weighed in on Gambhir’s scathing remarks about Ricky Ponting’s criticism of Virat Kohli and said that the Australian great was only doing his job as a commentator. India will take on Australia in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy series, starting November 22 in Perth.
“I don’t love it,” Paine told SEN Tassie. “It’s not a good sign I think, because all he was asked was a very simple question.“I think he’s maybe looking at Ricky still as someone he’s playing against, but Ricky is a commentator now – he’s paid to give an opinion, and his opinion was spot on. Virat has been sliding, it is a concern, absolutely. But for me now, the biggest concern for India right now isn’t Rohit Sharma’s batting, isn’t Virat Kohli’s batting, it’s their coach and his ability to stay calm under pressure,” he added.
Gambhir vs Ponting
Gambhir and Ponting’s feud started when the former Australian captain had criticised Virat Kohli’s form in recent times. The comments didn’t sit well with Gambhir and the India coach would lay into the Australia great by saying what he had to do with Indian cricket. Ponting would respond to the comments by calling Gambhir a ‘prickly character’ and offering a clarification about his comments.
“Ravi Shastri was fantastic”
Paine recalled Ravi Shastri’s coaching, under whose regime India won the 2018-19 and 2020-21 Test series in Australia. He highlighted the energised environment which Shastri created, which motivated the players to perform well and win the series.
“Their last two series wins out here they had Ravi Shastri who was fantastic,” Paine said.
“He created a great environment, the players were energised, they played with passion, he sold them the dream and motivated them in a really light-hearted enjoyable way. They have gone to a new coach now who is really prickly, really competitive – and that is not to say that’s not a good thing and a good way to coach – but my concern is that it’s not a great fit for the Indian cricket team,” Paine said.
