India have played 11 Tests in this period, winning only two and losing nine.
India’s form in Test cricket has taken a serious hit since Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach in July 2024. While his stint began well in white ball cricket with India winning the Champions Trophy, the story in red ball cricket has been quite the opposite.
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In this short span, India have played 11 Tests. Out of those, they have won just two, lost eight, and drawn one. The most shocking result came against New Zealand, when India were handed a 3-0 defeat at home, their first home Test series loss in 12 years.
This series loss pushed India to the edge in the World Test Championship race. To qualify for the 2025 final, they needed to beat Australia away by a margin of at least 3–2. They started well with a win in Perth but went on to lose three Tests and lost the series 3–1. The defeat ended India’s hopes of a third straight WTC final after making it in 2021 and 2023.
As the new WTC cycle began in June 2025 with a five match series in England, India also entered a phase of transition. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from Test cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin retired earlier during the Australia series. India appointed Shubman Gill as captain and hoped for a fresh start, but problems have continued. They are now trailing 2–1 against England with the fourth Test ongoing in Manchester.
One of the biggest concerns under Gambhir has been team selection in Tests. India are no longer picking specialist bowlers and are now focusing more on adding extra batters. Because of this, they are including more all-rounders in the team.
In the ongoing series against England, India dropped specialist bowlers and picked players like Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy to add depth after a batting collapse in the first Test. The move worked in the second Test at Edgbaston but failed again in the third, where batting issues returned.
In the 4th Test, Shardul Thakur was brought in after Nitish got injured, but he was mostly selected for his batting as he has been used as the fourth seamer. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav, a proven performer, has not featured in a single Test. His absence is due to the management’s decision to prioritise batting strength over bowling, a move that has hurt India’s ability to take 20 wickets, which is essential to win Test matches.
Since Gambhir took over as head coach, across 14 Test matches, seven times India have had all-rounders bowling less than 10 overs in an entire Test match.
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Former off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin criticised the current approach. He said he was shocked that Kuldeep had not played a single Test in the series. Ashwin explained that the extra 20 to 30 runs from the lower order used to matter in the past, when bowlers got more help from the pitch. But in present conditions, those runs do not guarantee wins. Without taking 20 wickets, there is little hope of success in the longer format.
“If somebody would have told me that Kuldeep Yadav will not be playing any part in the first four Tests, I would have been very very surprised. Unfortunately, it is our obsession with batting, and looking for those 20-30 extra runs,” Ashwin said in his youtube channel.
“Gone are those days in England, that advantage of 20-30 runs is gone. If your No.7 makes 30 runs, and your No.8 makes 30 runs, you have extra 60 runs. Earlier that 60 runs used to be very useful, because bowlers used to get help from the pitch,” he added.
If India continue to weaken their bowling to extend their batting, they risk slipping further in Test cricket. With just two wins from their last 11 matches, there is an urgent need for change. Gautam Gambhir must find the right balance between batting and bowling if India want to return to the top in red ball cricket and aim for another WTC final.
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