Former India captain Ajay Jadeja has backed head coach Gautam Gambhir after he faced criticism over a 0-3 whitewash in the home Test series against New Zealand. Jadeja believes the criticism towards Gambhir is premature and unjustified considering he took the charge not long ago from Rahul Dravid, who chose not to renew his contract after the 2024 T20 World Cup as well.
Ajay Jadeja refuted those criticism, saying PTI (via The Times of India): “I think you are being unfair to him… If you will start judging people on the basis of their coaching role or whatever way it is being looked at, it is too short a time to for people to be judged. If you are not convinced that he is good, then one performance here or there will be able to convince anyone. I don’t think it is the time to judge him, it is the time we should enjoy him.”
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“There are phases and it will come, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. So, I won’t go into that direction and start judging him (Gambhir) in six months. You knew what you were asking for and what you were getting. He is a very clear-cut person and he has made it clear throughout his life. So, what your are seeing now is what everyone expected of him to do,” he further added.
However, Ajay Jadeja further opened up on the importance of batting positions as India captain Rohit Sharma returns for the second Test in Adelaide, which starts on December 6. He also missed the first Test in Perth owing to personal reasons as well. KL Rahul opened in his absence and scored 26 and 77. Led by Jasprit Bumrah, Team India won the game by 295 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
“I have no details of what the team is thinking right now, no views on who should bat at what number. Rohit Sharma has always been an asset to the side wherever he bats. Him (Rohit Sharma) coming back to the team will surely boost India’s confidence, for sure. He is a leader, when the chips were down, team was going down, he stood up there as the leader and now when the team is going up, he will be again there as the leader,” he concluded.
