India Faces Second Home Test Series Whitewash in Year Amid Gambhir Criticism
India appear to be on the verge of suffering another humiliating test series whitewash at home, for the second time in a year after giving South Africa a massive first innings lead of 288 runs, in Guwahati.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) November 24: India’s in-game strategy in the match came under fire on social media, where Pant and head coach Gautam Gambhir bore the brunt of irate fans. After India slumped to 6 for 119, ‘Sack Gambhir’ started trending.
India Concedes Massive 288-Run Lead to South Africa in Guwahati Test
The Indian innings folded on Day 3 of the 2nd Test in Guwahati. Indian batters walked out to the middle on Day 3 at 9/0, and KL Rahul with his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal looked to provide India a steady start in their reply of SA’s first innings total of 489, but were cautious in approach. In doing so, India really started to gather a decent amount of dot balls. The ball was moving a fair bit and as a result, the Indian openers were not really willing to take many risks.
However, after watching for a bit the wheels came off the Indian innings on what was a good batting surface. India had reached 65/0, and shortly thereafter, they were down to 122/7, having lost 7 wickets for only 57 runs. The Indian batters were guilty of total hara-kiri, donating their wickets without a fight. Shastri, in commentary, made the point of reiterating that the pitch at The Barsapara Cricket Stadium is not a 150/7 kind of surface, and noted the excessive batting order experimentation of India.
Cricket Legends and Experts Criticize Gambhir’s Team Selection and Strategy
The performance naturally divided social media opinions with several users stating the same sentiment of Indian cricket legends Ravi Shastri and Anil Kumble, who lambasted current head coach Gautam Gambhir for the muddled decision-making patterns leading into the series and stared down the barrel of a second home test series whitewash in a little over a year.
Shastri's ire was directed toward India's latest obsession with all-rounders in the Test game.
He said, "No, absolutely not. It makes no sense. I don't understand the thought process there. I mean, when they look back at this series, some of the selections… still trying to figure out the thought process there. For example, you play 4 spinners in Kolkata and bowl one of the spinners for just one over. Ideally, you should have gone in with a specialist batter. Similarly, here, making Washington Sundar bat at 3 in the last Test, but you could have easily made him bat at No. 4 here, now that you have a No. 3. He [Sundar] is no No. 8. He's way better than a number 8."
Big Test Ahead
Following what could be described as an ordinary performance on the part of the hosts led by Rishabh Pant, the Indian team will now have the monumental job of stopping the inevitable in Guwahati let alone making any attempt to try and win the match to level the series against the new world Test champions.
