Former India captain MSK Prasad has urged patience before judging the head coach Gautam Gambhirtime, saying that the T20I defeats in Ireland and England came without two of India’s most popular players, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.India endured a difficult tour, losing two matches against Ireland 2-0 before losing 4-0 to England. Pandya missed the tour due to stress, while Bumrah was rested for the T20Is.Prasad believes that it would be unfair to test Gambhir based on the result alone.“Because the team did not do well, we cannot put the responsibility on the head coach alone, we cannot say that Gambhir did not motivate the team. At the same time, just because we have won championships or World Cups does not mean that Gambhir was the only one who inspired the team. It is a combination of many things. We didn’t waste time to drop Gambhir,” Prasad told PTI.He said that if the team will be given T20Is again, it will give opportunities to the coach and the captain.“What we have to evaluate is when we play the next T20I series when the whole side is there, including Bumrah and Pandya, how is the team doing? Then we can discuss who is encouraging who, whether the captain can do it, or the coach can do it. So, the next T20 series is something that we have to evaluate carefully.”Prasad, however, contested the decision to leave Sanju Samson he was out after a poor scoring performance, especially considering the wicketkeeper’s performance in India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign.“Why is the ax always on Sanju? Dropping Sanju was a big mistake. He is the best English batsman. He is very good when the wickets are tough and bounce.“He gave brilliant performances in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals of the recently won T20 World Cup. He is a World Cup player. And suddenly, in the 2-3 game, he is not getting runs and you are dropping him.”The former selector also expressed concern over the performance of youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying that the youngster should have been trained gradually instead of being kicked out of England.According to Prasad, the introduction of Sooryavanshi created unnecessary uncertainty within the playing XI.“Sending Vaibhav to Ireland and Zimbabwe is acceptable, because if you have to build a player, I think you have to build him slowly, especially when you are dealing with a 15-year-old’s incredible talent.“We have to be careful and cautious in making him. Look, this has caused a bit of chaos in the 11th game, the challenges that all the divisions have put on the coach and the director to play Vaibhav. The first few games, Sanju did not do well. So, there were many problems. When Vaibhav didn’t do well, there were more challenges to get Sanju back. “Prasad also questioned why Sooryavanshi was not picked in Ireland’s list before he was given a start against strong opposition.“Initially, they had to wait with Vaibhav, let him go through a full season of Indian cricket. He has been playing continuously, IPL and then India A series, he has been on the road for a long time.“For someone of that age, it’s always good to bring him slowly into the ranks. He should, first of all, include him in the Irish list. Not including him in the Irish list in the first place was a mistake,” he said.
