Manu Shankar
'Daily, we make him play at least 700, 800 balls so that he knows which one to play and which one to leave,' reveals his coach Sanjay Bharadwaj.
Coach Sanjay Bharadwaj is kept busy these days by one of his wards.
A left-handed opening batsman who was in form of his life till the World Cup 2011, before everything started to go awry.
Bharadwaj is working extra time to ensure that Gautam Gambhir regains his lost form and confidence. After getting dropped from Team India for the first two Test against Australia, the southpaw is working hard to get his basics right.
Ask Bharadwaj and he would tell you that it's a welcome break for Gambhir. "He is not the sulking type. He is a fighter and he will work hard till he gets it right," Bharadwaj said.
"It's a welcome break for Gambhir as he can now think about his game, technique and work on the details," the coach added.
Gambhir has been woefully out of form. He hasn't scored a Test hundred in more than three years now. His last century (116) came against minnows Bangladesh at Chittagong in January 2010.
Technically too, the batsman seems to have broken down -- inside edges and LBWs being the common mode of his dismissals.
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'Gambhir is taking a lot of pressure'
Gambhir has averaged a mere 34.33 in Tests in the last year or so.
In his last 15 Test innings, he has scores of 0, 83, 31, 14, 34, 3, 22, 2, 34, 45, 4, 65, 60, 40, 37.
"He had a decent England series," says Bharadwaj. "He had three half-centuries. Since he hasn't scored a century, it's reflecting badly on his career path."
When quizzed about what has changed since 2011, the coach is quick to point out that the Delhi opener is not playing freely.
"Gambhir is batting in a shell. He is taking a lot of pressure, rather than relaxing at the crease. It's a phase, and it happens to everyone," he explained.
Bharadwaj has chalked down plans to rectify the current chinks in the batsman's armour.
"He is working hard with me," he said. "Daily, we make him play at least 700, 800 balls so that he knows which one to play and which one to leave."
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'It's not the right time to check out a new player'
Gambhir will have a chance to prove a point or two when he takes on Australia in a three-day game, which begins in Chennai on February 16.
"He will lead the side as the India 'A' skipper. I hope he can come up trumps and force the selectors to give him another go," Bharadwaj said.
Asked about the team selection for the Australia series, Bharadwaj said even though the selectors were right in dropping Gambhir, it was not the right time to experiment.
"The selectors are basically looking for an alternative to the successful opening pair of Viru-Gauti (Virender Sehwag-Gambhir). But this is a very big series. It's not the right time to check out a new player."
"Sehwag and Gambhir are your settled, world-class, openers. We could have tried them for one last series," he added.
Bharadwaj felt the four Test series against the Aussies could be a tougher test than last winter's series against England.
"The batsmen will have to come good collectively if we have to dominate the series."
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