Kuldeep Yadav has perhaps copped the biggest losses due to India’s policy of preferring all-rounders over extra wicket-taking powers, particularly in overseas Tests. Gautam Gambhir has now admitted that benching someone of Kuldeep’s quality and telling the latter about is among the toughest parts of his job as head coach of the Indian team.
“I think that’s the toughest part for me as a coach,” said Gambhir when speaking about how he tells players that they won’t be included in the playing eleven in a video posted on the official website of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). “That’s the toughest job I have, that sometimes when I know that there is so much of quality sitting on the bench and I know everyone deserves to be part of the playing XI but ultimately, you can only pick XI thinking which is the best combination to do the job on that particular day.”
Kuldeep was left out of the Indian playing eleven throughout their epic five-match Test series in England earlier this year, despite it coming after a stellar performance in India’s Champions Trophy victory before that. There were similar eyebrows raised about Arshdeep Singh being left out for a part of India’s recently concluded limited-overs tour of Australia. Gambhir said that the important thing for him is to make sure that the dressing room in general remains transparent and there is clear communication with the player being left out.
“Communication needs to be very clear, very honest. Sometimes, obviously, those are hard conversations to have if you tell someone that he is not playing, it is the toughest conversation for a coach and the player. I know that the player would get upset when he deserves to be part of the playing XI. But if you are honest and straightforward and you know that youn are saying is from the heart and nothing beyond that, some players do understand that.
“It’s a communication between a player and a coach and I think it should stay till there only, rather than people making a lot of hue and cry and expounding a lot of different theories about it. That is something which I think this group and support staff has done brilliantly. It has been a very transparent dressing room, a very honest dressing room and that is what we want,” he said.
