The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

It doesn’t matter the sport, whether it be football, tennis, F1 or even our beloved cricket. Being an armchair fan or an armchair critic is one of the easiest jobs in the world. From the average Joe like myself to former India coach Ravi Shastri and India legend Sunil Gavaskar, we’re all guilty of throwing out an opinion. 

The two distinguished gentlemen, Messrs. Shastri and Gavaskar, do qualify to offer their two cents on current cricketing matters. Ravi Shastri in the test arena, oversaw a very successful and consistent period with Virat Kohli, the captain at that time. 

As glorious as those times were and as magnificent as the times that India has had in the past, all good things must come to an end. Not just Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar, but many more in the Indian cricketing community have argued in recent times that stalwarts Kohli and Rishabh Pant shouldn’t have been given the hand on the shoulder to retire. 

In the Indian media, it has been speculated that coach Gautham Gambhir was the architect behind that, which has been one of the key reasons for the hostility towards the former KKR skipper and Indian opener. 

Gambhir, a man who came at the wrong time?

One has to feel sorry for Gambhir, as a player, he wasn’t in the era that was famed for its batting. Once upon a time, India had their version of Real Madrid’s Galacticos. Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. 

Ever just reading that list as a cricket lover growing up in that era, I can’t help but let out a drool. Now, as a coach, he can’t call upon a Suresh Raina, a Yuvraj Singh, or an MMS Dhoni. This is a new India, which, based on this series, is a side with fire in its belly. 

Having the superstar Jasprit Bumrah helps, but the 31-year-old Mumbai pacer has been injured for a good part of the recently concluded series. It was the handling of Bumrah that attracted the most criticism.

Between test one and two, there was a one-week rest period, but the tourists still opted to rest. The critics, the voices of disapproval of such a move, were many, and the voices were getting louder. The shouts turned into roars of rage. Not having your star-man not playing, when 1-0 down in the series, is obscured. 

The big calls, GG, got most of them right.

But India, under the leadership of Gambhir, had some steel, grit and determination about them. Against the odds, the young guns of India, led by their maturing leader Shubman Gill, got back into the series and squared things up at 1-1. 

No Bumrah, no problem. Akash Deep turned into prime Jacques Kallis later in the series with a valuable 50 as night watchman, but he did cause England problems with the ball. Another player to come into the side was Washington Sundar. 

At T20 level, he’s a very economical T20 bowler, who opens the bowling for his side and is very misery with the runs he gives away. In this series, however, Sundar, like fellow-spinning all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, was superb with the bat. 

It’s just the way life is; you can’t get everything right all the time. However, Gautam Gambhir, who has had to endure fierce criticism and opposition to some of the moves he has made as a coach, deserves credit. 

No one at the start of this tour would have had them down as drawing the series 2-2. Some of the Sky commentary team felt it would be a 4-1 procession to England. Gambhir has really silenced some critics here, not bad for a batsman once branded as ‘rubbish’.

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