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IND vs SA 2nd Test: An under-fire Gautam Gambhir gave a fitting reply to his critics after the hosts lost the Test series to South Africa in Guwahati, as he tried to highlight his achievements in all formats as the head coach of these teams. He has lost the fifth Test match at home as the coach, which is the most by any Indian coach in history.

Apart from the lack of quality in this Test team, experts have also raised fingers on his strategies, like their over-dependence on all-rounders instead of picking a specialist as one of the main reasons why the Test team lost to South Africa.

But Sunil Gavaskar has come out in support of Gambhir and said that he can only help the team prepare, and it's the players who have to perform on the match day.

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At the same time, he also asked why Gambhir wasn't given the credit when, under his guidance, the Men in Blue had won the Champions Trophy and Asia Cup T20 tournaments.

“He’s (Gambhir) a coach. The coach can prepare a team… But it’s out there in the middle that the players have to deliver. Now, to those who are asking for him to be held accountable, my counter-question is: What did you do when India won the Champions Trophy under him? What did you do when India won the Asia Cup under him?" Gavaskar told India Today.

“Did you say then – you’re asking for a sacking now – did you say then that he should be given an extended contract, a contract for life for one-day cricket and for T20 cricket? You didn’t say that. It’s only when a team doesn’t do well that you look at the coach," he said.

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He took Brendon McCullum's example, who is England's head coach across formats, and dismissed the notion that Gambhir, who has had success in white-ball cricket, should be removed as the Test head coach.

“A lot of countries have a coach who is there for all formats. But we tend to only look and point a finger at somebody when the team has lost. You’re not prepared to give him credit," he added.

“If you’re not prepared to give him credit for the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup win, then please tell me why you want to blame him for the team out there on that 22-yard, not doing well. Why are you blaming him?" he concluded.

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