Former India player and head coach Ravi Shastri spoke in defense of the present coach Gautam Gambhir, suggesting that he'll learn from the experiences during his initial days with the national team.
Shastri said this after India witnessed their first Test series loss at home since 2008. The same had been caused after a 113-run defeat to New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series against them at Pune.
Gambhir, who was appointed as the replacement to Rahul Dravid as India coach in July, witnessed an ODI series defeat - the first bilateral one against Sri Lanka in 27 years - in August.
"New Zealand have beaten them handsomely in both the Test matches. It's food for thought on series loss. He has just taken over the job. It's never easy being coach of a team that has such a big following. It's still early days in his career as a coach. But he'll soon learn," said Shastri while commenting on the match at MCA Stadium, Gahunje.
Having suffered a crushing eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand at the hands of KL Rahul during the first Test at Bengaluru, a three-day, 10-wicket home defeat in Pune ended an Indian Test streak of home-winning Test series in 18 matches. In fact, before this series loss, a home Test defeat for India since November-December 2012 had happened when the team was Alastair Cook-led England's casualty by 2-1.
India has been able to remain at the top of the chart despite this loss, while the points percentage of Rohit Sharma's side stands at 62.82. At number two is Australia with a points percentage of 62.50. With New Zealand holding an unassailable 2-0 lead, India will look to win the third and final Test of the series, scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from November 1-5, before heading to Australia for the crucial five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series.
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