When Gautam Gambhir took over the coaching reins of the Indian cricket team from Rahul Dravid leaving on a high T20 World Cup win, headlines were aplenty about Gambhir’s temperament and his relations with some of the senior players in the team.

While the social media platforms of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took care of those concerns, the issues currently faced by the Indian cricket team are far too serious.

The lean form of veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is no secret. However, the series has exposed the vulnerability of Indian players against quality spin bowling.

An eight-wicket loss in the first Test in Bengaluru and a defeat in Pune inside three days against New Zealand had already ended India’s unbeaten 18-series streak at home, spanning over 12 years.

Despite that, Gambhir allegedly sought a turning pitch in Mumbai, as per sources.

The blow was deepened after the Kiwis thumped India at the Wankhede Stadium. Once again losing inside three days, resulting in a 3-0 whitewash for the first time in the test history at home in a series involving three or more matches.

The result added to questions being raised against the new coach, and his authority in demanding a certain kind of pitch.

India also slipped from the top spot to the second in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle and now requires four wins out of the five tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in testing Australian conditions.

Gambhir, who took over in July, also saw the team lose its first bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka after 27 years in August.

The only silver lining of the former cricketer’s coaching career has been India’s T20 run as the Men in Blue secured series against both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav.

Yadav, who was made captain of the team ahead of Hardik Pandya, was also reportedly Gambhir’s call.

However, a report now suggests that BCCI may take away this kind of access over selection from Gambhir after the poor run, as according to the report, Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid did not have that kind of access.

The upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, already an important spectacle for cricket fans with the top two teams on the WTC points table fighting it out, now has a lot riding on it.

India needs four wins for a possible shot at the WTC final, which they have secured twice since the inception of the tournament, a series win in Australia, which they have successfully achieved twice in the last two Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, and a coach under the microscope, hoping for a turnaround in fortunes.