- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 19 Nov 2025 08:36 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
IND vs SA 1st Test: Ex-India cricketer Robin Uthapa has defended the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir, as a few fans and experts had blamed India's 30-run loss against South Africa on Gambhir. The hosts were chasing a gettable target of 124 runs but were skittled out for 93 runs, and that led to debates about team selection, their batting performance, and if the host have lost their domination in their backyard.
Uthappa revealed that the criticism Gambhis is facing is unfair. During an interaction on his YouTube channel, he stated that the notion of India losing has nothing to do with Gambhir and that when the players enter the ground, the role of a coach is reduced.
"I saw a comment yesterday suggesting that I was defending GG. Yaar, coach thodi jaake khel raha hai andar (The coach is not playing out there)," Uthappa was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
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He also said that although results do matter, the broader context is always ignored.
"We are looking at the results and blaming a coach, but you have to look at the overall scenario," he said.
He also compared the criticism faced by Rahul Dravid.
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"When they criticised Rahul Dravid, it didn't make sense to me. Scoring 20-30 thousand international runs is not easy. So if he can be trolled, anyone can be trolled," he said.
This loss was the host's ninth defeat after playing in 18 Test matches. In Gautam Gambhir's guidance, these stats have only increased his criticism of his coaching record. Although the Men in Blue have maintained their domination at home, in the longest format, they have struggled to maintain consistency.
During the series opener, the host suffered another batting collapse. Post restricting the visitors to just 124 runs, they failed to play against their spinners. The Protea captain, Temba Bavuma, scored a gritty half-century and showed everyone how one should bat on these pitches as the Indian batters succumbed under pressure.
Gambhir himself admitted that they had asked for the same pitch that they had got, but failed to implement their plans. Sunil Gavaskar also opined that the pitch wasn't the problem and that similar pitches didn't receive this much criticism in Australia and England.