GT Head Coach Slams Gambhir For Exhausting Kohli, Rohit In Meaningless SL Series

Rohit and Kohli during second ODI vs SL [PTI]

Gautam Gambhir, the new India head coach was slammed by his former team-mate, Ashish Nehra, for wasting the youngsters in order to accommodate Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the squad.

Rohit and Kohli were on an extensive break, when Gambhir asked both the players to be available for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. 

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Nehra slams head coach Gautam Gambhir

However, Ashish Nehra, who has played alongside Gambhir, reckons that the head coach missed an opportunity by not trying out the squad's bench strength, ahead of the Champions Trophy, scheduled for February 2024.

“The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli...I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn't like he doesn't know the two of them. He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit," Nehra said.

He further added that the series was an excellent opportunity for the new coach to try out different set of players, and Kohli, Rohit's break could have been extended, considering the tougher series that awaits India.

"So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I'm not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series."

India won the T20I series Vs Sri Lanka, but the ODIs haven't gone according to the plan. The first game was a tied affair, while India lost the second match by 32 runs.

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