Virat Kohli’s brother Vikas Kohli has slammed head coach Gautam Gambhir and the selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar, leveling serious allegations against them. He also blamed them for the team’s drastic decline in the Test format, which they once dominated. He further said that Rohit and Virat did not withdraw from Tests on their own, they were removed.
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Between December 2012 and October 2024, India did not lose a single Test series at home. This period is considered one of the greatest in Test cricket history. This team was built under Kohli’s leadership, after which he handed over the reins to Rohit Sharma in early 2022. India was not only invincible at home, but Kohli’s team also became one of the strongest traveling units ever, winning consecutive Border-Gavaskar series in Australia.
Taking to Instagram threads, Vikas Kohli highlighted the stark difference between those tours: a team that once aimed to win away, now struggles to win at home. “There was a time when we played to win even away… now we’re playing to save matches… even in India… this is what happens when you try to be the boss and unnecessarily change things that weren’t broken,” Vikas wrote in the threads post. However, he later deleted the post.
India is now staring at a second home Test series whitewash in four matches since Gautam Gambhir became head coach last July. After starting his tenure with a win against Bangladesh in September, India suffered a home defeat to New Zealand and then lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. These consecutive defeats have pushed India out of the chance of making it to the WTC final in the 2023-25 cycle. Following the retirements of Kohli, Rohit, and Ravichandran Ashwin, India, led by Shubman Gill, managed a 2-2 draw in England.
However, there’s some opinion that the team should have defeated a team under Ben Stokes’ weak leadership. They then defeated the West Indies at home and appeared to be settling into the new system. But just when it seemed India had regained its footing, South Africa provided a grim reminder of the challenges ahead.