Former Indian player Balvinder Sandhu slammed head coach Gautam Gambhir for criticizing veteran Kris Srikkanth regarding his remarks on Harshit Rana’s selection in the ODI and T20I squads for the Australia series as well. However, Srikkanth was unimpressed with India consistently picking Harshit in all their squads since Gambhir took over as head coach last year despite not performing.

In his column for the Mid Day, Sandhu shared: “One can choose to agree or disagree, but there’s no reason to rebuke him publicly. Yes, Srikkanth has his own flamboyant style of speaking, just like his batting, and that’s exactly what we love about him. It’s true that sometimes former players may go a bit overboard and face trolling on social media, but that doesn’t take away their right to speak about the game they’ve served with such passion.”

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“Their views should be taken in the spirit in which they are offered — with respect and an open mind. As head coach, it’s always wiser to focus on the battle on hand rather than opening too many fronts and losing sight of the main goal. I was genuinely pained to read Gautam Gambhir publicly rebuking Srikkanth’s views and speaking harshly about a former player in the media,” he added.

However, Balvinder Sandhu advised Gautam Gambhir to maintain dignity as the Team India head coach without allowing personal ego to come in between as well.

“In the professional world of sport, once you take on the role of head coach, you represent not just yourself, but the entire cricketing fraternity. It’s a position of responsibility and dignity, not of personal ego. One should always learn from those who have held the role before and remember that leadership is best shown through calm focus and example, not reaction,” said Sandhu.

“Having coached Gautam at the NCA when he was an U-19 player, I’d like to remind him to stay focused on improving the team’s performance and winning major tournaments. That’s the best way to silence unfair critics. Every coach faces criticism — fair or unfair — during their tenure. It’s part of the job,” Balvinder Sandhu concluded.