“He needs to…” - Monty Panesar on Gautam Gambhir’s biggest challenge ahead of 2nd Test

Team India lost the first match of the ongoing five-match Test series and are now trailing 0-1. They will next face England in the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

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Ahead of the match, former England spinner Monty Panesar spoke exclusively to IANS. He shared what he thinks is the biggest challenge for Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir.

He said: "The problem is that if Gautam has the ability to make his team into a good batting unit, he then needs to show the ability can make the team into a good bowling unit. Fans are going to troll. They're going to come after Gautam Gambhir. When India were 400 plus, India should have won the Test match. But the question is, 'Is Gautam Gambhir a good coach to make the bowling good? Does he have the ability?' He needs to show that.”

“He needs to now think, right, I know how to get the batting to fire, but as a coach, can I pick the team to take 20 wickets? That's his biggest challenge right now in England, and if he is not able to demonstrate that, then I think the BCCI will slowly, Test by Test match, assess him, and they'll just think, you know, what should we do after the end of the series? His biggest challenge is going to be to pick the right attack for every venue to take 20 wickets,” Panesar added.

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“It's going to be a turning wicket. Edgbaston is dry.” - Panesar

Panesar also spoke about the Edgbaston pitch. He said it is expected to assist spinners, which could help the Indian team. He suggested that Kuldeep Yadav or Washington Sundar might be useful on this surface.

“It's going to be a turning wicket. Edgbaston is dry. We won't see much grass from the wicket. I think it will help India. The Edgbaston wicket will suit India. India just need to work out, right? Batting isn't the problem. It's bowling. We need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match. That's the most important thing, and Shubhman Gill did say, ‘I will pick 5-4 tailenders, but an attack that can take 20 wickets,’” the former England spinner said.

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“From that point of view, I think Prasidh Krishna bowls too short, maybe give him a rest. Bumrah, I think, will rest anyway. Kuldeep Yadav comes in, or Washington Sundar, one of the other, to play an extra spinner. Ashdeep Singh has to play. Left arm seam, I think that will cause problems for the England team. Then, they have Mohammed Siraj, maybe Shardul Thakur could play,” Panesar concluded.

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