Gautam Gambhir gets ‘saam daam dand bhed’ reminder Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma exits from Test cricket

New Delhi: The Indian cricket team is going through a massive change in its Test team. After Rohit Sharma retired, Virat Kohli also made the news of his retirement from Test cricket, following the previous retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin. All these retirements of three major players leave the team, which is now led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, with a rebuilding phase ahead of it.

Atul Wassan, a former Indian cricketer, recently commented on the team’s transition period, offering a balanced perspective by referencing the coaching tenures of Gary Kirsten and John Wright.

“It happens because a new coach is usually appointed when the team loses something. Nobody wants to fix something that is not broken. So when that new phase arrives and you think you want to rebuild…but then there is a lack of patience. You need to keep in mind that there are big players who might think that their rules are getting disrupted,” said Wassan on the OTTPlay App.

“They are very powerful in the Indian team. You know what happened. They won’t let it happen. So you can do it like Gary Kirsten and John Wright, who made that transition smoothly. ‘Saam Daam Dand Bhed (persuasion, reward, punishment, and divide)’ you should know it all, if you want to survive in Indian cricket,” he added.

Wassan advocated for granting the BCCI head coach, Gambhir, full autonomy to achieve optimal results.

“Whichever coach comes, comes with the dogma. You have to give him a free hand. If you’re a very strong personality, you’re given a free hand. And if you don’t deliver, you have to be out,” said Wassan.

“It’s not as if you make all your choices, but in the end, you cannot guarantee results. There has to be some balance, some kind of mentorship has to be there from the board,” he added.

News