Ex-India spinner Harbhajan Singh defended Gautam Gambhir amid calls for split coaching, stressing the role’s challenges, urging patience, and criticising blaming coaches for failures while ignoring successes, saying split coaching is not needed now.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has thrown his weight behind Gautam Gambhir to continue as a head coach amid the calls for a split coaching for Test and white-ball cricket. Gambhir came under heavy scrutiny after Team India's 0-2 whitewash at the hands of South Africa in the two-match Test series in November 2024.
India suffered a second Test series whitewash at home in 12 months, having previously lost 0-3 against New Zealand. Under head coach Gautam Gambhir, India won two Test series out of six played since September 2024, with inconsistent performances across conditions drawing criticism from former players and fans alike. Gambhir’s team selection, experimentation with the batting order, and frequent changes in combinations have come under scrutiny.
Following India’s Test series whitewash at the hands of South Africa, there were calls for split coaching in Test and white-ball formats, with a red-ball specialist taking over the Test team while a separate coach handles limited-overs cricket. This became a topic of debate after JSW Sports founder and co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Parth Jindal, publicly backed the idea of separate coaches for Test and white-ball cricket.
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‘Not Easy to be Head Coach of Team India’
Amid debate on split coaching and criticism against Gautam Gambhir over the decline in Indian Test cricket since 2024, Harbhajan Singh has once again come out in defence of his former national teammate, stating that it is not easy to be the head coach of Team India, given the constant travelling and scrutiny, and year-long involvement required to manage multiple formats and selections.
"It is not that easy to become a coach of India,” Harbhajan told ANI.
“To be a coach, you have to travel with the team for a whole year and keep yourself involved in the game. You have to be more engaged because there are multiple team selections, and you also need to focus on match results,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir took over the reins of Team India as a head coach in July 2024, succeeding Rahul Dravid, who concluded his tenure with the T20 World Cup triumph in June 2024. Though India enjoyed white-ball success under the guidance of Gambhir, the team’s struggles in Test cricket have kept the former opener under pressure, fuelling debate over the direction of India’s red-ball setup.
Lack of Credit for Gambhir for India’s Success
Further defending Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh slammed India’s ‘tradition’ of signalling out the coach during failures while ignoring his role in the successes of the team.
“In India, it is our tradition that if the team plays well, everyone is quiet, but as soon as the team plays poorly, we get on top of the coach.” the former India spinner said.
Under the guidance of Gambhir, Team India won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup last year, along with multiple bilateral white-ball series, a record that Harbhajan believes deserves greater recognition.
However, Gautam Gambhir’s record as a coach in Tests is not so impressive, winning seven matches, losing 10, and two draws in 19 games over the last 14 months, with a winning percentage of with win percentage of just 36.84%.
Should India Go for Split Coaching?
Speaking on the most debatable topic in Indian cricket, Harbhajan Singh urged the BCCI to exercise patience with the current coaching setup under Gambhir and resist a knee-jerk split coaching for now. However, the former Indian spinner added that there is nothing wrong if the board adopts a split coaching policy.
“Everyone needs to be patient. If you feel you need to split the coaching, such as adopting a policy of one white ball and one red ball, then there is no need to do so for now,” Harbhajan said.
“But over time, if needed, you should definitely do it. There is nothing wrong with that,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir’s next big assignment is the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, starting on February 7, as Team India will enter the marquee event as the defending champions of the tournament, having won the title in 2024. Before the T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue will play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will begin on January 21.
