Unwanted Records for Team India in Gautam Gambhir’s Era till BGT 2024-25 You Need to Know!

“Should Gautam Gambhir Be Removed as Team India’s Head Coach Across All Formats?” This is the most frequently asked question after several unwanted records were broken during the former Indian cricketer’s coaching era. 

The Indian cricket team’s recent failure in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, which confirmed their exit from the World Test Championship (WTC) final, fueled the debate. But this isn’t the only struggle that has risen since GG’s arrival. It all started with the 3-match ODI series loss in Sri Lanka and later a humiliating whitewash in the three-match home test series against New Zealand. 

Fans on social media started roasting Gambhir with countless trolls that included a popular caption highlighting the fact: “India’s Dominance of 36, 27, 13, 12 and 10 Years Ended! He is Improving Gradually…”

The first half of 2024 has been fortunate for India, triumphing in the T20 World Cup 2024 under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Thanks to the guidance of former coach Rahul Dravid for concluding the team’s 11-year hiatus of claiming an ICC trophy). Following the completion of his tenure after the tournament, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) was left in a dilemma to appoint an eligible candidate who could be Mr Dependable’s perfect successor. 

Ever since Gambhir took over the reins from Dravid as head coach in July 2024, the second half of the cricket calendar year has proven to be completely disastrous for India. 

Let’s explore the severe setbacks India has faced since Gambhir’s coaching stint, from the 50-over series against Sri Lanka to their recent loss in BGT after a decade.

1. ODI Series Loss vs Sri Lanka After 27 Years

In 1997 India previously lost the ODI series against Sri Lanka by 2-0 in Colombo. After 27 years, the men-in-blue suffered their first bilateral series defeat with a similar outcome at this venue. 

2. Winless ODIs in a Calendar Year

For the first time after 45 years, India hasn’t won a single ODI match in a calendar year, as they played their only 3-match 50-over series of the year against Sri Lanka in Colombo. This was India’s fourth instance since 1974 and one such unwanted feat experienced after 1976 and 1979. 

3. 30-Wicket Loss in 3-match ODI Series

India gave up all their 30 wickets in the 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Out of which 27 of them were lost to spinners, which is the most by any team in a bilateral ODI series.

4. Lowest Total by Any Asian Team in a Home Test Match Against Any Opponent

Batting first under cloudy sky conditions at M.Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, India’s innings after winning the toss was bundled to 46-all out against New Zealand in the opening test match of the series, which was their lowest test total at home. 

Shockingly, this was not only India’s third-weakest total in the longest format, but also the lowest by any Asian team getting all-out under 50 in a home test match. 

5. Losing 12 years of Dominance in Home Tests 

India’s 12 years of test cricket dominance at home ended when New Zealand secured a massive 113-run victory in the 2nd test of the 3-match series at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. 

It was in 2012 when the hosts previously lost a home test series to England under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Since then, India has achieved 18 consecutive test series wins at home from February 2013 to October 2024. 

Unfortunately, the team’s longest winning streak of 18-0 concluded with a shocking defeat against New Zealand. 

6. India’s First Whitewash in Test at Home 

Team India’s 3-0 loss to New Zealand marked their first-ever whitewash defeat against any team in a 3-match test series. 

Only once did the hosts face a clean sweep of 2-0 against South Africa in 2000. But this was the first time they had failed to pull off a victory in at least one out of three or more games in a test series.  

Also, it was New Zealand’s first-ever whitewashing victory in a test series against any team in the history of cricket.

7. Allowing New Zealand to Claim First Test Victory on Indian Soil After 36 Years 

The Bengaluru Test recorded India losing its first test match to New Zealand at home since 1988 (after 36 years). Also, it was the third win for the Kiwis in 37 test matches on Indian soil.  

YearWinning MarginVenueNew Zealand Captain
1969167 runsNAGPUR- Vidarbha Cricket Association GroundGraham Dowling
1988136 runsMUMBAI- Wankhede StadiumJohn Wright
20248 wicketsBENGALURU- M. Chinnaswamy StadiumTom Latham

8. Lost A Test Match at MCG After 13 Years

Since 2011, India recorded its first loss in a test match at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) since 2011. After 13 years, the team under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the BGT 2024-25 was defeated in the Boxing Day Test by 184 runs.

BGT SeasonIND vs AUS Outcomes in Boxing Day Test at MCG
2011-12Australia won by 122 Runs
2014-15Match Drawn
2018-19India won by 137 Runs
2020-21India won by 8 Wickets
2024-25Australia won by 184 Runs

9. First BGT Loss in a Decade: 

India failed to retain the 17th edition of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) championship title, losing to Australia in a high-voltage test series after a decade. After a 2-0 defeat in 2014, the visitors succumbed to a 3-1 loss. 

Despite a massive defeat in Melbourne, India still had the chance to level the 5-match test series with a 2-2 scoreline at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and retain their title. However, a mediocre batting performance and key pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s inability to bowl due to back spasm allowed the Aussies to comfortably chase down the target of 162 with a 6-wicket victory. 

10. Eliminated from WTC Final for the first time

After advancing to back-to-back finals in 2021 and 2023, India failed to make a hat trick of the WTC final in Lord’s 2025 for the first time since the tournament’s inaugural cycle in 2019-21. This was the qualification scenario for both teams ahead of the New Year’s Test at SCG:

TeamWTC 2025 Final Qualification Scenario After winning the SCG Test
AUSQualify for the final vs South Africa
INDQualification hopes Alive (Australia required to win one out of two test matches in Sri Lanka)

In contrast to Gautam Gambhir’s coaching, the Indian cricket team has tasted immense success during Rahul Dravid’s era, ranking at the top spot in the WTC points table. These are the few comparisons fans started to make that became viral on social media: 

  • Discussions when Rahul Dravid was Team India Head Coach: “Who would compete against India in the WTC 2025 final at Lords?”   
  • Discussions after Gautam Gambhir became Team India Head Coach (Ahead of BGT 2024-25): “Are India still left with any chances to Qualify for WTC 2025 final?”

Here is a review of India’s standings in the WTC 2023-25 points table during Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as Head Coach (Updated After BGT 2024-25): 

Head CoachPositionPointsPCTQualification Chances
RAHUL DRAVID1st74 Points68.52100%
GAUTAM GAMBHIR 3rd114 Points50.00Eliminated

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