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India's Test Downfall: Decoding Gautam Gambhir's underwhelming record since taking over as coach

Prachi Rajan

India's performance under Gautam Gambhir (Source: AFP)India's performance under Gautam Gambhir (Source: AFP)

Gautam Gambhir took over as the Indian head coach in July 2024, succeeding Rahul Dravid. Under Gambhir's guidance, no doubt, the Indian cricket team has dominated the white-ball cricket. However, they are far from brilliant in the longest format of the game, Test cricket. 

In the ongoing home Test series against the WTC champions, South Africa, the Men in Blue are on the verge of registering another humiliating Test loss, following a 30-run loss in the first Test of the two-match series. 

Surrounding India's recent Test failures, fans and experts have taken to the internet to criticise Gambhir for his underwhelming record as the head coach in Tests.

India's Test Cricket performance under Gautam Gambhir 

Since Gautam Gambhir was appointed head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, the team has played 18 Test matches and won only 7. Two games ended in a draw, and India has lost nine Tests. Notably, the muddled significance behind them makes the losses even more filthy. 

The downfall of the Indian Test team is unreal - once invincible at home, India have lost the prowess that they had on spinning tracks. 

IND vs NZ, 2024: A Test loss at home after 36 years

The demolition started with the India vs New Zealand Test series in October 2024. The second most successful Test team in the recent past, India, lost a Test match at home against New Zealand for the first time in 36 years. The Tom Latham-led New Zealand defeated the home side by 8 wickets in Bengaluru. 

This wasn’t it. In the same Test, for the first time ever, India failed to score more than 50 runs in an innings at home Tests. The Kiwis bowled India out for just 46 in the first innings.

Kiwis whitewashed India, 3-0 for first time in history 

The winner of the WTC 2021 cycle, New Zealand, defeated India for the first time ever on the Indian soil, hammering the Rohit Sharma-led India in all three matches to win the series 3-0. 

This series defeat marked India’s only series defeat at home since December 2012.

Border-Gavaskar Trophy vs Australia (1-3 loss)

The woes continued further in Australia: Gambhir and co. showing a glimmer of hope with a decisive win at Perth. However, soon India lost the momentum, and the all-important Border-Gavaskar series went down the drain. This saw India out of the race for the WTC in June 2025.

South Africa win first Test in India for 15 years 

Sitting in a commanding position in the ongoing Guwahati Test, South Africa is now eyeing just a second series win in India in the Test format and a first since a 2-0 victory in 2000 when they triumphed in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

That being said, India’s abysmal record in the longest format of the game under Gambhir's leadership has raised concerns across the nation. If the Indian team faces yet another humiliating loss, Gambhir's capability and his future with the national team setup will be questioned.