Former Indian opening batter Wasim Jaffer has come out in support of split coaching in the Indian team across formats. While Gautam Gambhir is the full-time head coach, VVS Laxman has been appointed as the interim head coach for the ongoing Zimbabwe tour.
Notably, Gambhir has enjoyed success across white-ball formats, but couldn’t make it big in the red-ball format. Under Gambhir, India has won only six out of their 18 Tests, while losing 10 games with two contests ending in a draw.
“I think, going forward, we’ll start seeing these things happen more often. A lot of players come and go, the formats change frequently, and there’s very little time to settle in. So, in my opinion, it makes sense. Whether it actually happens or not remains to be seen. Usually, decisions like these are taken when teams are losing. When you’re winning, neither the players nor, obviously, the support staff are changed very much,” Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
“The upcoming series against Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Australia are huge. I think this will be a real testing period because, as far as I know, we need to win almost 90% of our remaining matches to qualify for the World Test Championship final. That will be the acid test for both the players and the coaching staff,” he added.
Furthermore, Jaffer has reckoned that the series against New Zealand and Australia will be the real test for a lot of players and the current coaching staff. He went on to add that the split coaching depends on the results of those two series.
“I think we’ll have a much clearer picture after the Australia series. I don’t believe Sri Lanka will be that difficult for the Indian team. India should be able to beat Sri Lanka, but the series against New Zealand and Australia will be the real test,” he noted.
“That’s when we’ll be able to make a proper judgment about what should happen going forward because those two series will determine the future of several players and, obviously, the support staff as well. Gautam Gambhir is, of course, expected to remain in charge until the 2027 World Cup, but whether adopting a split-coaching model is the right option remains a question mark. We can answer that only after those series,” he concluded.
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