BCCI may seize control following New Zealand defeat; Gambhir questioned about access denied to Shastri

As per a report from the PTI, Gambhir's future in the team is dependent on the upcoming tour of Australia, where India will be playing five Tests in the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series. Not only will India be aiming to defend their title, having emerged victorious in their last two tours of Australia, but they also have the added pressure of securing a spot in the World Test Championship final. After a disappointing whitewash at home, India has slipped to the second spot in the rankings and must avoid a series loss or more than a single draw against Australia in order to qualify for the final for the third consecutive time.

The report further revealed that unless a remarkable turnaround, BCCI might curb Gambhir's power, having been given a free hand in selection matters, unlike his predecessors, Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.

Some of the concerns raised against Gambhir, according to the report, has been his insistence on a rank turner in Mumbai for the third Test against New Zealand despite it being no secret that the Indian batting line-up has increasingly become vulnerable against spin over the last few years. Moreover, questions have also been raised on a few of his tactical calls during the recent home series like the decision to send Mohammed Siraj as night-watchman on the second evening of the third Test and Sarfaraz Khan at No.8 in the first innings.

According to the BCCI rules, head coaches have no say in selection matters, which was often raised by Shastri, both during his tenure and following the end of his successful stint, and his successor Dravid. But the board made an exception, considering the importance of the Australia tour, and allowed Gambhir to be part of the selection meeting.

"Gautam Gambhir was given access which his predecessors Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid didn't have. The BCCI's rule book doesn't allow coaches to be a part of the selection committee meetings, but for Australia tour selection meeting, an exception was made.

"The head coach was allowed to attend considering the magnitude of the tour," a senior BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

Gambhir has also had influences on selection matters since his appointment in July, having played a key role in Suryakumar Yadav pipping Hardik Pandya in the race to India T20I captaincy after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format.

More recently, the news agency had reported last month that Gambhir insisted on Harshit Rana's selection for the Australia Test series despite having played only nine First-Class games, which raised quite a few eyebrows. Moreover, there were questions raised as the Delhi speedster was not set for the India A tour in Australia as he rather played a Ranji Trophy game at home against Assam before practising with the India team in Mumbai ahead of the third New Zealand Test.

Gambhir also had an influence in Nitish Reddy's selection with the former India opener convinced that he can be the ideal replacement of Hardik Pandya as the seam bowling all-rounder.