Team India is undergoing a major transition in Test cricket. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stepping away from the longest format, Shubman Gill has taken over as Test captain.

However, his leadership got off to a rough start as India suffered a five-wicket loss to England in the first Test at Leeds.

Gambhir’s Test Record Under Scrutiny

Since taking over as head coach after the T20 World Cup 2025, Gautam Gambhir has struggled to produce consistent results in Test cricket. In the 11 Tests played under his leadership so far:

Lost 7

Drawn 1

India’s only series win during this period came against Bangladesh at home.

India faced a rare home Test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand, who defeated them 2-0 — the first time since 2000 that India was clean swept at home. Things worsened during the Australia tour, where India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-3, effectively ending their hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship 2025 Final.

India will look to bounce back in the second Test against England, set to begin on July 2 at Edgbaston, Birmingham. With pressure mounting, changes in the playing XI are likely as captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir search for a winning combination.

"It's not that they're not working hard in the nets as well. Sometimes these things happen, even the pure batters fail as well. So hopefully they got to learn, and hopefully we can have better performances from our tail, and that is not the only reason why we lost the Test match, to be honest.

"There were other moments as well where we could have won the Test match. I'm not going to sit here and single out 'it's because of the tail' or 'the tail couldn't contribute' or '8, 9, 10, 11 couldn't contribute'. We lose together, we win together."