"Spoiling Young Players": Gautam Gambhir, Shubman Gill Blasted In Brutal Verdict By Ex-India Star

Mohammad Kaif slammed the Gautam Gambhir-led team management over inconsistent selection.© Getty

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has slammed the Gautam Gambhir-led team management over inconsistent selection during the ODI series against the West Indies last week. While India won the series 2-1, Kaif, speaking on his YouTube channel, raised questions over the team's selection policy. The former batter criticised head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill for dropping pacer Auqib Nabi after just one game, saying that this approach could hurt the team in the long run.

"You are bringing new guys but not backing them. If you have played someone, give more chances. Why did they drop Nabi? Kamboj also got hit anyway. You are spoiling young players by doing this. I don't know when Nabi will play white-ball next. Maybe he won't play at all. This is wrong. You do not have backups. If this planning continues, it is going to hurt," said Kaif.

Kaif, however, sympathised with Gill's approach to captaincy, saying it is still a work in progress and adding that the lack of experience in the bowling department has not helped him either.

"He has less experience and is a work in progress. He is still learning as a captain and getting into that role. The biggest thing hurting him is that he is a young captain with a young bowling team. There is less time for the World Cup and it is seen that he is panicking. You played Nabi in one game and dropped him. You gave Reddy the new ball in one game and then changed that. Then you played Kamboj. They lost because they also had the penalty and had to bring fielders in. Because he was clueless when so many runs were being scored and was taking time," he added.

Kaif highlighted that there were positives to take away from the series against the West Indies, but felt India had failed to address their bowling woes.

"I think the takeaways from this series were not hundreds from Kohli, Rohit, Gill and KL. They have been doing this. We did not add on anything. When you play a series, you try to add on and improve on your weakness. Kuldeep picked wickets but he was not playing enough before anyway. Nothing was added on from this series. In fact, it has only hurt. The confidence has gone down. Gill, as a captain, may be doubting himself. It's like the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. There was no positive added," Kaif said.

Kaif also blasted the selectors for not making the right calls, including bringing veteran pacer Mohammed Shami back into the mix.

"I feel two-three things have been done wrong. If you look at the selection committee, there are many bowlers there. They have a huge role to play. Even they are not able to connect to Shami. I am sure they also would have gone through such phases, be it fitness, rhythm. Ajit Agarkar himself made a comeback so many times. This is the norm of a career," he explained.

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