"Concern is his ability to stay calm under pressure...": Paine on Gambhir ahead of Australia tour

Former Australian skipper Tim Paine said that India's biggest concern is their head coach Gautam Gambhir's ability to stay calm under pressure, and made it clear that he is not exactly a fan of the World Cup winning star's outspoken nature. Gambhir's remarks on Aussie legend Ricky Ponting following his comments expressing concern over star batter Virat Kohli's form triggered a clash of words ahead of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Perth Test from November 22 onwards.

 As Ponting expressed concern over Virat scoring two centuries since 2020 in Tests and backed the veteran to come good in Australian conditions, the head coach Gambhir said in the team's pre-departure presser that the multi-time World Cup winning skipper should worry about Australia instead of Virat.

In return, Ponting clarified later that his comments were not a jibe at Virat and referred to the Indian head coach as a "prickly character". Speaking about this war of words on SEN, Paine said,

 "I do not love it. It is not a good sign I think, because all he was asked was a very simple question."

Paine said that Gambhir still looks at Ponting as a player and a competitor and said that Virat's form is indeed a concern.

"I think he is maybe looking at Ricky still as someone he is playing against, but Ricky is a commentator now - he is paid to give an opinion, and his opinion was spot on. Virat has been sliding, it is a concern, absolutely," he said.

"But for me now, the biggest concern for India right now is not Rohit Sharma's batting, is not Virat Kohli's batting, it's their coach and his ability to stay calm under pressure," concluded Paine.

The former Aussie captain said that India's previous series wins against Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21 under former coach Ravi Shastri were fantastic as he had ignited player's energy, passion and motivated them well.

"Their last two series wins out here they had Ravi Shastri who was fantastic. He created a great environment, the players were energised, they played with passion, he sold them the dream and motivated them in a really light-hearted enjoyable way," he said.

"They have gone to a new coach now that is really prickly, really competitive - and that not to say that is not a good thing and a good way to coach - but my concern is that it is not a great fit for the Indian cricket team."

"If your coach is the first one to crack in a press conference after being asked a simple question, it could be a really long summer for Gautam Gambhir if India do not get off to a good start on Perth," he concluded.

With a 3-0 series whitewash against New Zealand at home, India need to win the series by 4-0 to punch their ticket to feature in London for the WTC final for the third successive time directly. After the series opener in Perth on November 22, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.

The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne's iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series' penultimate stage. The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.

India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.

Australia squad for the first Test: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc. (ANI)