IND vs SL: India's 2011 ODI WC winning coach Kirsten backs Gambhir as coach amid scrutiny
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Former India coach Gary Kirsten backed Gautam Gambhir Photograph: (BCCI)
Former India coach Gary Kirsten backed Gautam Gambhir, highlighting his ICC trophy wins, as India prepare for a crucial Sri Lanka Test series amid recent home losses and WTC standings pressure.
India's 2011 ODI World Cup winning coach Gary Kirsten, who currently is head coach of Sri Lanka team, has backed India coach Gautam Gambhir amid the scrutiny around him. Gambhir has been criticised for loss in Test series against New Zealand and South Africa at home, but has coached India to two ICC trophies since taking over in 2024 from Rahul Dravid. Notably, Gambhir also played the important 97-run innings during the 2011 ODI World Cup final which India won under Kirsten.
Gary Kirsten backs Gambhir as India coach
India are currently in Sri Lanka for two-Test series and the series is very crucial for India's World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 Final aspirations. The India team is without Jasprit Bumrah as pace spearhead and Sai Sudharsan as well. Kirsten, meanwhile, has backed Gambhir as the Indian coach, citing his record.
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"He (Gambhir) is a fantastic coach. He has had incredible success, won two World Cups (Kirsten referring to 2025 Champions Trophy and 2026 T20 World Cup). He’s also had success in the IPL (KKR winning IPL 2024 with him as mentor), so his record speaks for itself. I really enjoyed working with him. I knew he’d have success as a coach as well,” said Kirsten ahead of the first Test which starts August 15.
India's WTC 2025-27 standings
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India are currently fifth (48.15%) on the WTC 2025-27 cycle with four wins, four losses, and one draw in nine Tests. Sri Lanka (41.67%) are right under India with one win, one loss, and two draws from four Tests played so far. Along with Bumrah, Nitish Reddy, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, and Washington Sundar are also out injured, putting a lot of pressure on the inexperienced Indian team.
India’s squad for Sri Lanka Tests – Shubman Gill (captain), K L Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (w/k), Dhruv Jurel (w/k), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Devdutt Padikkal, Saransh Jain, Auqib Nabi and Sarfaraz Khan
