India’s young batter Sarfaraz Khan was recently accused of leaking the dressing room information to the media during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir had accused Sarfaraz of the leaks, according to a report in News 24.
The report claimed that Gambhir named Sarfaraz as the culprit behind the dressing room leaks during the review meeting with the BCCI officials on January 11. Skipper Rohit Sharma and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar were also present in the meeting.
However, the incident has taken a fresh turn now. It is believed that Sarfaraz is not the person responsible for the dressing room leaks. Instead, Gambhir’s own assistant coach has been accused of leaking the news to the media.
Also read: BCCI considers reviving Virat Kohli’s captaincy policies to resurrect Team India amid struggles
Sarfaraz Khan not responsible for Indian dressing room leaks
According to journalist Abhishek Tripathi from Dainik Jagran, India’s assistant coach was named in the reports of leaking the information alongside a player. Also, the journalist feels the assistant coach has been leaking the Indian dressing room information. While the name of the assistant coach is not clear, there are chances of Abhishek Nayar or Ryan ten Doeschate being the culprit here.
Gautam Gambhir’s support staff has two assistant coaches in the form of Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate. While ten Doeschate doesn’t have deeper connections with the Indian media, Abhishek Nayar is a well-known name in Indian cricket.
Gautam Gambhir is blaming Sarfaraz Khan for all the leaks, but in reality, his own assistant coach is leaking the news pic.twitter.com/Pk5aXSvBVh
— Jenil Modi (@Jenil1903) January 15, 2025
Gautam Gambhir lashed out at Team India
The incident of dressing room leaks happened after the fourth Test between Australia and India in Melbourne. A report in Indian Express claimed that Gautam Gambhir had lashed out at the team for a poor performance which cost them the match.
Another incident of ‘Mr. Fix it became the headlines according to which a senior player in Team India went to Gambhir and promised him to make everything fine if he is given the captaincy. While it is not confirmed about that player, it is likely that it was one out of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
When Gambhir was asked about the leaks in the press conference later, he made it clear that the talks inside the dressing room should not come out at any cost. At that time, he didn’t make allegations against anyone but warned that it should not happen again.
What happened in Melbourne?
India had lost the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne in a disappointing fashion as they lost seven wickets in the final session of Day 5. The match was all set for a draw after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant had survived the second session without losing a wicket.
However, the wicket of Pant turned the match as Australia found a way to get back into the game. Pant was out while trying to play an aggressive shot off a long hop from Travis Head. It started a collapse as India lost seven wickets to lose the match.
Gautam Gambhir was extremely disappointed as he felt India were in a good state to draw the Test match. Even after the Sydney Test when India had already lost the series 1-3, Gambhir picked the moment in Melbourne as the one which India shouldn’t have let go out of hand.