Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Snehasish Ganguly extended support to under fire India coach Gautam Gambhir after a shaky start to his coaching stint. Gambhir took over as India coach after the T20 World Cup, following the exit of Rahul Dravid. The former cricketer was rated very highly in the Indian circuit given his successful stints with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL. Gambhir was roped in as KKR mentor for the 2024 season and he produced immediate results and led KKR to their third IPL title.

Given his tremendous achievements, he was roped in as India coach. There were high hopes from the former player that he would take Indian cricket to greater heights, however, that was not the case to be as India endured a horrible run during the first year of his coaching tenure.

Under Gambhir, India lost the ODI series in Sri Lanka and the Test series to New Zealand and Australia which also knocked the Rohit Sharma-led side out from the World Test Championship final race. To make matters worse, there were rumours of a rift in the dressing room. Amidst heavy criticism following India's defeat to Australia, Ganguly backed Gambhir and said it was too early to judge the India coach and he should be given more time before making a judgment.

"I feel happy because of his approach. As a coach, he got success for KKR after 12 years. We should give him some time. It has been some months since he has been handling the team after Rahul Dravid," Ganguly told ANI.

Meanwhile, Gambhir's next assignment will be the white-ball series vs England at home following which India will take part in the ICC Champions Trophy. The ICC event could be make or break for the India coach. A good performance by Team India in the Champions Trophy will help Gambhir keep his place and if the team suffers another failure, Gambhir could face some strict actions from the BCCI.

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