Gautam Gambhir became the head coach of the Indian cricket team after India lifted the T20 World Cup in 2024. Things have gone downhill since then, at least in the longest format of the game. Since Gambhir’s appointment, India has played a total of six Test series.
His first assignment as the head coach of the side was the home series against Bangladesh in September. India won the two-match series comfortably and whitewashed their neighbours. Since then, India has managed to win just a single Test series, which happened against the West Indies when they toured in October this year.
The Indian team was ranked in the number one position in April last year with 122 rating points. As of November 2025, India is sitting in fourth place in the ICC rankings with 108 rating points.
Unwanted Records that Gambhir has as the head coach of the Indian team:
Here are some of the unwanted records that Gambhir got after he became the head coach of Indian Team
1. ODI Series Loss In Sri Lanka After 27 Years
In ODIs, Gambhir started his coaching career with a three-match series in Sri Lanka. India failed to win a game in this series. The first match ended in a tie, while Sri Lanka won the next two matches.
It was the 10th bilateral series for India in Sri Lanka. India had won five of the previous nine, while Sri Lanka had won two. Two of the remaining series had ended in a draw. India lost an ODI series in Sri Lanka for the first time since 1997.
2. First Home Series Loss In Test In 12 Years
In October 2024, New Zealand came to India to play a three-match Test series. New Zealand had never won a Test series in India. Since the 1988-89 tour, New Zealand had not won a single Test match in India. Since 2010, India has won four Test series against the Blackcaps at home.
However, everything changed on this tour. New Zealand won all three matches of the series. It may sound surprising, but this was only the second time in India’s history that they lost all the matches in a Test series with more than one game. It was also the first time India got clean swept at home in a three-match Test series. In the first innings of the first Test in Bengaluru, India got bundled out for a mere 46 runs. It was the first time India got all out for less than 50 runs in a Test match at home.
3. Lost The Border-Gavaskar Trophy After 10 Years
India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia for the first time in 2018. It was also India’s first series win in Australia. The team won the four-match series in 2020-21 by 2-1. In 2023, India hosted Australia and won the series by 2-1.
In 2024, India started with a 295-run win but went on to lose three out of the next four games. Australia won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014-15.
4. Failed To Qualify For The World Test Championship Final
India qualified for the first-ever World Test Championship final in 2021 and faced New Zealand. In 2023, India faced Australia in the final. They lost on both these occasions. The Indian team looked in great touch during the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship and needed four wins in eight Test matches against New Zealand and Australia in total.
India managed just one win in these eight Test matches and failed to make it to the final. Australia and South Africa qualified for the final and South Africa defeated Australia to win their first ICC title.
5. An Embarrassing Outing Against South Africa
In the recently concluded series against South Africa, India failed to chase down a target of 124 runs in Kolkata in the first Test and lost the match by 30 runs. It was the first time India lost a Test match at the Eden Gardens since 2012.
In the second Test, South Africa set a target of 549 runs for India to win. It was only the second time that a team set a 500-plus target in a home Test against the Indian team. India got bundled out for 140 runs and lost the match by 408 runs. It was the biggest defeat for India in Test matches.
India has lost two Test series at home across two consecutive years for the first time in the last four decades. South Africa was the first team to give a clean sweep defeat to India at home in 2000. Also, it was South Africa’s first series win over India since that series. It is the first time India has lost five Test matches in a two-season stretch at home. India has now lost five out of the last seven Test matches at home for the first time in 66 years.
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