Gautam Gambhir’s first Test tour of England as India head coach ended with the team drawing a series in the country for just the third time ever. All five Tests went into the last day, and often deep into the last session with some calling it one of the greatest series of this century. It all ended quite dramatically with India coming back from a seemingly unwinnable position at the Oval to beat England by six runs – their lowest margin of victory in Tests by runs. Gary Kirsten, under whom Gambhir and the rest of the Indian team had won the 2011 World Cup, has now said that he is delighted for his former ward.
“I’m really happy for the Indian cricket team for levelling the series and it’s great for Indian cricket,” Kirsten is quoted as saying by PTI. “I’m really pleased for Gautam Gambhir as well, I know him well. Really delighted and pleased for what he’s achieved with the team.”
The drawn Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy marks a bit of a turnaround for Gambhir as head coach of the Indian team. The former opener had taken over after Rahul Dravid departed having led India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup. In the months after that, India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which itself came after a historic 3-0 shellacking at the hands of New Zealand at home in a Test series. Both of these results led to India not qualifying for the World Test Championship Final for the first time.
However, this was followed by India winning the 2025 Champions Trophy. Doubts still swirled around him ahead of the tour of England, which was India’s first since the 3-1 defeat in Australia and Gambhir garnered criticism throughout the series as well, especially for India’s decision to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench.
“They’re (India) doing really well at the moment. We all get excited by the success of the Indian team, I certainly do. They’ve got a great bunch of young players coming through now and it’s really exciting to be supporting them,” added Kirsten.
The five-Test series in England marked the start of a new era for India, with it being Shubman Gill’s first assignment as captain. Gill ended up smashing a record 754 runs in the series while Mohammed Siraj’s herculean effort showed that India’s bowling department were not entirely dependent on Jasprit Bumrah.
