Former KKR cricketer Manvinder Bisla backed India head coach Gautam Gambhir amid a string of poor results under his tenure. His comments came ahead of India’s two-match away Test series against Sri Lanka, starting Saturday, August 15, in Galle as well. Under Gambhir, India have faced a difficult run in recent times, including a 2-0 T20I series whitewash against Ireland and a 4-0 loss in the five-match series against England in the same format as well.

Speaking on a YouTube podcast (TheBallyBaazi), he said: “And there’s one more thing that people don’t realize. Nowadays, whenever we lose, the hot topic becomes, ‘Blame everything on Gautam Gambhir.’ So, all the players who didn’t perform well in that series don’t even get discussed.”

“We often don’t realize this. I keep seeing so much criticism on social media. There are so many people who even work around hashtags, and if a particular hashtag is trending, we keep getting reach from it. But there is no doubt that we haven’t dominated Test cricket over the last one-and-a-half to two years. But you also have to look at the fact that within a year, you have won the Champions Trophy, won the Asia Cup, and won the T20 World Cup. That is not a small achievement either,” he again shared.

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In the same conversation, Manvinder Bisla also described Gautam Gambhir as a fierce competitor who would give everything for the nation and understands what it takes to win as well.

“Gautam Gambhir is a huge fighter, and he can give everything he has to win a match. Especially when it comes to Indian cricket, he can even put his life on the line. A lot of people don’t realize how much he understands what it takes to win,” Manvinder Bisla concluded.