'Accountability and appraisal are always going to be there.'
Head Coach Gautam Gambhir is facing unprecedented criticism after India suffered a humiliating 2-0 whitewash against South Africa on home soil, their second home series whitewash in just over a year.
After India suffered a 408 run defeat in the second Test in Guwahati -- their biggest defeat in Tests -- angry fans in the stands began shouting 'Gambhir hai hai, go back' -- perhaps the first time an Indian coach has been publicly booed like this.
Under Gambhir, India had suffered their second series whitewash at home in the space of nearly a year after the 3-0 defeat against New Zealand last year. This was the first time that India have lost five Tests at home within a span of seven games.
Social media is ablaze with questions about Gambhir's reportedly strained equation with seniors Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Zaheer Khan, who was Gambhir's team-mate in India's 2011 World Cup triumph, advised him to be 'thick-skinned' to deal with all the criticism coming his way.
'Emotions run high. You are expected to win pretty much every game, you are expected to win because you have been doing that consistently. Obviously, you have the strength in your side to achieve those kinds of milestones and have those kinds of victories. So, the accountability and appraisal are always going to be there, it goes hand in hand,' Zaheer told Cricbuzz.
'It's just that the job demands you to be that way. The scrutiny with the game is always going to be there, with your role it is always going to be there. So, I think, it's something which you got to& be able to balance it. You got to be thick-skinned to be able to deal with all these kinds of criticism. But again, as I said, it's coming with the kind of expectation, the kind of passion which everyone has and the kind of ability which you have as a team.'
Zaheer urged Gambhir and the team management to open up and communicate better with fans instead of going silent.
'The disappointment always comes because you know that you can do better and the frustration comes with those kinds of emotions. It's just that kind of phase. So, you need to have that communication also from the team management rather than getting the emotions get the better of you. You got to be able to have a very open dialogue because the fans are understanding as well. They understand that they are going to be there even though you are frustrated, you got to be backing your team, they understand that,' Zaheer said.
'Sometimes you need that kind of communication from the team which is realistic and very open for them (fans) also to getting closer to understanding your thought process.
'I always believe that from the outside you can analyse, you can you say things, you can tactically talk about it but there are different ways of approaching the game and many ways of winning the game. As long as you are following a process which is leading to what you want to achieve and having those kinds of results, it becomes result-oriented.
'So, I think, the communication in terms of the thought process, which is being implied at this stage, if the team is more vocal about it, more transparent about it, I think the fans will also understand where they are coming from.'
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