India head coach Gautam Gambhir has dismissed the concept India are struggling in Take a look at cricket, saying the group’s current outcomes must be seen as a part of a transition after the retirement of a number of senior gamers.India go into the second Take a look at in opposition to Sri Lanka in Colombo with a 1-0 lead after their 165-run win in Galle. However the sequence has additionally saved the give attention to a group that’s making an attempt to construct a brand new Take a look at facet after the departure of a few of its greatest names.Since Gambhir grew to become head coach, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have retired from Take a look at cricket. India have additionally misplaced Take a look at sequence in opposition to New Zealand and South Africa at residence and endured a tough tour of Australia.India have received 5 of their 10 Checks within the present World Take a look at Championship (WTC) cycle and are ranked fifth at present behind Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Bangladesh. They had been additionally whitewashed 2-0 by South Africa at residence in 2025, after a 3-0 residence sequence defeat to New Zealand within the earlier WTC cycle. Gambhir is the one India coach to supervise two residence Take a look at sequence whitewashes.Regardless of these outcomes, Gambhir stated India should not in decline.“Rankings don’t matter. We aren’t struggling. For the reason that England tour, we’ve been taking part in constant cricket since England,” Gambhir stated forward of the Colombo Take a look at.The pinnacle coach stated his focus is on successful tournaments relatively than rankings.“My job is to win trophies. That is all I consider in and take care of. That’s the distinction between me and everybody. I do not care about views or likes,” he stated.Since Gambhir grew to become head coach, India have received the 2025 Champions Trophy and the 2026 T20 World Cup titles, however he has continued to face criticism over the group’s Take a look at performances. There have additionally been discussions about India shifting to separate coaches for red-ball and white-ball cricket.Waiting for the second Take a look at, Gambhir stated group choice will rely on selecting the bowling assault that offers India one of the best probability of taking 20 wickets.“We are going to attempt to subject one of the best bowling assault that may get us 20 wickets,” he stated.
