India has been facing unexpected defeats, with the 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand getting added to the list. Everything seemed dismantled soon after Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach of the team. Notably, he got all his demands met by the board on signing the agreement. Despite receiving a comforting dressing room, the results have aired many doubts and questions from the critics, having the legendary Sunil Gavaskar as a mandatory name in that list. There's hardly a time when Sunil Gavaskar ever restricted himself to mince his words, and this time, his target was Abhishek Nayar. From being totally confused about his role to asking Gambhir to take charge for having more runs, Gavaskar didn't step back from criticising. In an interaction with India Today, Gavaskar expressed, “The honeymoon period for Gautam Gambhir has ended. We tend to forgive the mistakes made during this period, but we now want him to step in and guide the players properly in the tour of Australia... For batting, what is the role of Abhishek Nayar in the team? Is he a batting coach or an assistant coach?” Enter Team under microscope It won't be wrong to address the fact that the entire team is suffering from certain unaddressed bruises. Keeping aside Gambhir's coaching, the stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, are not performing up to the mark. The top-order collapse is yet an unhealed injury for the team, which Gambhir was expected to cure. Despite doing that, the results started looking otherwise. The 0-2 defeat in the ODI series against Sri Lanka followed, but the humiliating yet historical defeat to the Kiwis has brought clouds regarding the BGT as well. The Border Gavaskar Trophy is no longer restricted to an ego-fight against the Aussies. It is now an important series for the Indians to qualify for the World Test Championship. A young team travelling to Australia to face the mighty Aussies, leaving such a reportcard behind is indeed a matter of tension. Added, when Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul traveled to Australia for an India A match, the senior team refused to play the only practice match in order to focus in the nets. When many are questioning such behavior, Gavaskar took a dig on Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate's runs as players themselves. Gavaskar literally laughed but thankfully controlled himself and commented, "Gambhir has scored a lot more runs than the two, so if he can step in and guide the players on how to bat in Australian conditions and the type of approach they should take, then we can probably perform better.” Aussies ready for the battle Compared to the Indians, Australia has a safer seat for the WTC qualification. Yet players have opted to take leaves from the ongoing series against Pakistan. Notable mentions are Marnus Labuchagne and the skipper Pat Cummins. Mitchell Marsh is on paternity leave and will extend his absences due to practice for the BGT. The headache Travis Head is doing the same. Read: Josh Inglis Named Australia’s Interim T20I and ODI Captain Meeting to be held later, deciding future A PTI report confirmed that, once Team India will reach Australia, an informal meeting will be held, deciding the futures of seniors that include names like Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and even Virat Kohli and the captain Rohit Sharma. Sorry to say, the Border Gavaskar Trophy starting from November 22 can be a do-or-die series for coach Gambhir too. The amount of freehand he has been providing was nowhere in match to Ravi Shastri's and Rahul Dravid's. Not only that, a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity, "Gautam Gambhir was given access, which his predecessors Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid didn't have. The BCCI's rule book doesn't allow coaches to be a part of the selection committee meetings, but for Australia tour selection meeting, an exception was made. The head coach was allowed to attend considering the magnitude of the tour." In that case, BCCI may expect a better show from Gambhir and his team; otherwise, the contract can be axed. However, one thing that is confirmed is that the team selected for the series will be unhinged till the end.