'Be Serious...": Karthik's Blunt Message To Gambhir After England Heroics

Gautam Gambhir, at the start of the year, faced extreme heat after India lost 1-3 to Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The new India coach's credentials regarding guiding a Test team came under questions. Though India won the Champions Trophy, under Gambhir's coaching, doubts still persisted when the team embarked on a new journey for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The side was devoid of many big names and not much was expected by many. However, India turned the tables and produced a performance for the ages and drew the series from an unthinkable position. 

Former India star Dinesh Karthik felt that the next step should be to form a team that can take 20 wickets.         

"Gautam Gambhir had a very ordinary series vs New Zealand at home, goes without saying. He continued to have a poor series against Australia. Now, he has taken control of the team I feel. This is a team handpicked by him, this is a young team. He is the driving force of this team with Shubman," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.   

"The one thing that I would think that he can do is, can he almost look at being serious about picking 20 wickets as much as he feels about depth in batting? He's a terrific white-ball coach and the results have been there for us to see. But, in Test cricket, he is also learning on the job. He is a young coach. He's not done too many five-day games, not too much domestic cricket for him to have that volume of experience. We don't know what language he speaks in the dressing room, but they are a bunch of fired up youngsters."

Karthik went on to hint that there was a certain level of defensive thinking behind the team selection.   

"You could almost argue they picked a team not to lose. He is now getting his way, so he will be responsible for everything that happens in the Indian team. If it does well, credit to him. If it doesn't do well, he should put his hands up and say, ‘we made a mistake'," the 40-year-old Karthik added.

"For this England series, he should be proud of the effort the boys put in." 

Karthik also mentioned the role of Jasprit Bumrah in the drawn Test series.  

"You have to look at it from Jasprit Bumrah's point of view. I think, these kind of wins, the way the series has panned out, the way the young team has fought, it will actually help him in his career. I believe Jasprit Bumrah will be very proud of this young bowling attack," he said.

"The stat of India winning when he doesn't play is not his mistake. He is so impactful that others pale in comparison. I hope he will have a longer career, knowing he can pick and choose matches. Two back injuries, one nasty ACL that he had, it's not easy."