India head coach Gautam Gambhir has enjoyed a successful run in white-ball cricket but has also faced criticism over some of his decisions involving senior players. Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has now raised questions about how Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami were handled during Gambhir’s tenure.
Gambhir has guided India to two major ICC titles, with the team winning the Champions Trophy 2025 and the T20 World Cup 2026. However, his record also includes two disappointing Test series defeats at home against New Zealand and South Africa.
According to Jaffer, those two Test series losses are likely to remain the biggest disappointments of Gambhir’s tenure. At the same time, he believes there were certain instances in white-ball cricket where senior players could have received better treatment.
Jaffer specifically named Suryakumar Yadav and Mohammed Shami while discussing Gambhir’s decisions. He pointed out that Suryakumar was dropped after India’s T20 World Cup triumph and suggested that the batter could have been treated better. Jaffer also included Shami among the players whose situations could have been handled differently.
However, Jaffer does not believe Gambhir deserves significant blame for India’s overall performance in limited-overs cricket. His major criticism is linked to the team’s Test results, particularly the home series defeats against New Zealand and South Africa.
Jaffer said those two whitewash series would remain a mark on Gambhir’s record, while also affecting the captain and players involved. He highlighted how difficult it had historically been for visiting teams to defeat India in Test series on home soil.
The former cricketer also believes Gambhir may look back at those defeats and feel India could have been in a much stronger position in the World Test Championship standings had they won those series. He stressed that there is plenty of scope for improvement in India’s Test cricket.
India are now trying to recover from those setbacks. The Shubman Gill-led team are playing a two-Test series against Sri Lanka and currently lead 1-0. The second Test is underway, with India sitting fifth in the WTC points table. A win in the match would take them up to fourth place.
