Gautam Gambhir blamed for India's ODI series loss to Sri Lanka as Tanvir Ahmed offers BCCI 'VVS Laxman' suggestion

India under the coachship of Gautam Gambhir lost the ODI series to Sri Lanka in his very first assignment with the team. The Men in Blue won the T20I series under him but lost the ODI series. This was Sri Lanka's first ODI series win against India in 27 years.

The first ODI ended in a tie with India needing just one to win from 14 balls. Sri Lankan spinners outspun the Indian batters with spin in the next two matches. Sri Lanka posted 240 in the second ODI and won the match by 32 runs, bowling India out for 203.

In the third ODI which India needed to win to level the series, the Lankan spinners once again exposed the weakness of the Indian batters against spin. Chasing 249 to win, India was bowled out for 138 as Sri Lanka won the match by 110 runs.

India lost 27 wickets to spin bowling which is the most in a three-match ODI series. They also lost 9 or more wickets to spin four times thrice each in three matches in this ODI series. The series loss came as a shock to many. The disappointment was particularly in how the Indian batters struggled against spin. Meanwhile, former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir Ahmed used this opportunity to troll both Team India and their head coach Gautam Gambhir.

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Tanvir Ahmed Rips Into Gautam Gambhir

He criticized the decision of Gautam Gambhir to bench Arshdeep Singh.

"Arshdeep Singh was made to sit out in the third match despite bowling well in the first two matches. He took two wickets in the first match bowled well in the second and was made to sit out in the third match. India opened the bowling with Shivam Dube. Mashallah!, said Tanvir.

"The left-arm pacer gets to swing the new ball to the right-handers irrespective of how flat the wicket is and that makes a difference. This is how The new head coach Gautam Gambhir is. I think the combination of Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma was a very good one.

"Rohit looks like a relaxed captain and someone who takes the team along with him. Rahul Dravid too looked cool, calm, and composed. I thought VVS Laxman could have been made the next coach as he too looks calm and composed. Laxman should have been made the head coach.

"Gautam Gambhir will make a difference if his suggestions are not listened to by the cricketers. Arshdeep Singh would have definitely played had Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma been the coach and the captain of the side. Rest of the selections would have been correct even Suryakumar Yadav would have played," said Tanvir venting out his anger on Gautam Gambhir

None of the Indian batters looked comfortable against spin in this series. It was a great opportunity for the likes of Pant, Iyer, Rahul, and even Shivam Dube to score some crucial runs in testing conditions against Sri Lanka. However, when the opportunity came none of the batters took the opportunity.

Rohit Sharma's aggressive batting approach was the only positives from this series for India. He has been able to bat with the same intent since the last ODI World Cup. Even Virat Kohli seemed to struggle in this series as he could not score a fifty-plus score in the three matches. At the post-match press conference, Rohit did not put much heed into the series loss but did speak about the areas they needed to work on.

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