The newly appointed head coach of the Indian team Gautam Gambhir is on his first assignment, leading India in the ongoing three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid whose term as head coach came to an end at the end of T20I World Cup 2024, where India recorded the title victory. 

Gambhir’s first task as head coach was the three-match T20I and ODI series. India clinched the T20I series 3-0, overcoming Sri Lanka comfortably. And, India’s T20I squad included few new faces as well. For the ODI series, recognising the importance of experienced players, Gambhir decided to bring in robust players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli into the squad. 

Earlier, both Rohit and Kohli were expected to miss the series but Gambhir was eager to play both the players. Meanwhile, Ashish Nehra, former Indian bowler, hit out at Gambhir for bringing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli into the ODI squad. Nehra felt that this series was a nice platform to experiment India’s new talent. 

“The next series India play is 2-3 months later, a rare thing for us. So for players like Rohit and Kohli...I feel there was a better chance of giving opportunities to other players during this series. I know Gambhir is a new coach, and he wants to spend some time with the experienced players, but it isn't like he doesn't know the two of them,” Nehra said on Sony Sports. 

“He is not a foreign coach who wants to get his equation right with Kohli and Rohit. So it was a good opportunity for him to try out the new players, and Rohit and Kohli could play when the home season begins. I'm not saying it is a wrong approach, but it could have been one of the strategies in this series,” he said.

Talking about the ODIs, the first game between both teams ended in a tie, while Sri Lanka won the second game to lead the series 1-0.