India has done well under coach Gautam Gambhir in white ball cricket, with the team winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, but the results in Tests are concerning. Under his short coaching stint, India were whitewashed by New Zealand at home and lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) after a decade. Following the BGT debacle, veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli drew curtains on their Test careers, with Shubman Gill taking charge of the team.

India were expected to fight back on the England tour, but the team suffered a crushing defeat in the first Test.

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that Shubman Gill should not be blamed for the defeat to England as he just took over the leadership reins, but questions should be thrown at coach Gambhir for the team's poor run in Test cricket.

“This is the principle of Indian cricket, and it is true that if it is good, then everyone is proud of it. But if it is bad, then criticism is absolutely obvious. I will still be more patient with Shubman Gill because he has just become the captain. It will take him some time to understand,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“There is a lot of pressure on Gautam Gambhir. The pressure is absolutely mounting. If you look at his performances in Test cricket and red-ball cricket, you will find that he has not won a lot of matches. He has won 2 matches against Bangladesh and one against Australia. However, we lost three against New Zealand, three against Australia and one against England. He has been losing and losing,” said Chopra.

Chopra added that Gambhir was given everything he wanted, and now it is time for him to start delivering results, saying questions will be raised on his role if the England series does not go India's way.

“His performance in white-ball cricket has been good. The team has been playing well. But in Test cricket, I think the questions are going to be there. And I think there is a lot of pressure on this series. If this series doesn't go well, God forbid, I hope it goes well. I really want Indian cricket to do well. But if the England series doesn't go too well, then there will be a question mark,” said Chopra.

“Where are they going and what are they doing? Because the selectors feel that whatever team management is asking for, it is being given. The type of player you want, the number of players you want, and the player you are pointing at are being given. So, if this is the case, then you also need to deliver the results. Period. There is no excuse,” he added.