BGT 2024: Sanjay Manjrekar explains why Rohit and Co. have ‘nothing to lose’ in Australia

Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has remarked that team India are in panic mode after the first ever Test series washout against New Zealand recently. Reportedly, BCCI had also conducted a marathon 6 hour long review meeting with skipper Rohit Sharma, coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar ahead of the high stakes Test series down under against Australia.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said, "Clearly, India is in panic mode. They are a bit shaken by what happened against New Zealand at home. And that's when plans start to go awry. And that is where I believe that one has to actually look at it in a different way, where you think there's nothing to lose here,"

Gautam Gambhir to lose red ball coaching role if things go awry:

According to a recent report in Hindi Daily Dainik Jagran, BCCI could force Gautam Gambhir to relinquish red ball coaching role if Team India fail to deliver results during the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024.

The report states that BCCI may opt to have someone like a VVS Laxman to take the full time coaching role for India's red ball team while the White ball coaching role could continue with Gautam Gambhir. Notably, this is almost inverse of the current situation where Laxman, who also heads the NCA, is often sent as the Indian white ball coach with younger players while Gambhir is almost always available present for red ball duties.

Meanwhile, a previous report by news agency PTI had suggested a similar fate could await senior Indian players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. In any case, the report suggests that the senior players may already have played their last Test match on Indian soil.

Why BGT 2024 is important for India?

Rohit Sharma led India's chances of qualifying for World Test Championsip 2024 final rests on their ability to win a minimum of 4 or more matches during the upcoming 5 match series down under. While a qualification could be possible with lesser wins, anything less than 4 wins would require team India to depend on the fate of other teams.