4 min readUpdated: Jan 31, 2026 10:10 AM IST
South Africa Test captain Temba Bavuma said that India head coach Gautam Gambhir will feel the heat while managing a transitioning Test side and that his team’s results in the white-ball formats could buy him some time to steady India’s ship in red-ball cricket. Bavuma, who steered South Africa to a stunning 2-0 Test series win over India in November, also reflected on how India remained a dominant ODI side, with seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still around.
After losing the Test series, India returned as a dominant force in the white-ball legs of the home series against South Africa, beating Bavuma’s men 2-1 in the ODIs, where Kohli and Rohit sparkled with a host of centuries and half-centuries. The Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I team then beat South Africa 3-1 in the T20I series.
“You saw how India performed in the ODI space with their two stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, versus in the Test game, where those two weren’t available for selection. When it comes to the red-ball stuff, India are definitely a team in transition,” Bavuma wrote in an ESPNcricinfo column.
“India coach Gautam Gambhir has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and I think he is going to have to take it as it comes. He is going to have to find a way to buy himself time in the red-ball game, and I’m of the view that the performances in white-ball cricket may assist him.”
‘With Ro-Ko around, Gambhir will be okay in ODIs’
Bavuma candidly remarked that Gambhir’s boys will find the grind in the Test arena strenuous for a considerable period ahead, with several spots up for grabs in the line-up. However, he felt that having Kohli and Rohit in the side in the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup will ease Gambhir off some pressure.
“In ODIs, Kohli and Rohit will naturally take on a lot more responsibility from a performance and leadership point of view. So I think Gambhir will be okay in terms of his position. However, from a red-ball point of view, it’s going to be tough for this Indian team in the near future.”
Bavuma ruled out split-coaching as an option for India across formats and reckoned that the “men in suits” in the BCCI did not appoint with a short-term goal in mind.
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“They want him to be successful over a period of two to four years. In that period, things are not going to be all good all the time. It needs to be about the long term.
There will be opportunities for players at domestic level, and there are spaces up for grabs within the Test team,” said Bavuma.
The World Test Championship-winning captain also recalled how South Africa exploited India Test skipper Shubman Gill’s injury during the Eden Gardens Test and went onto script a landmark series win. Gill suffered a neck injury during the first innings of the series opener before being subsequently ruled out of the second match in Guwahati.
“Looking back now, we exploited the opportunity with a senior player like him not being there. Gill not being able to contribute with the bat played heavily in our favour. India had to have a makeshift captain, Rishabh Pant, and a new No. 4. With Gill back from injury, I think things will equalise a bit more and it’s not all doom and gloom for India,” wrote Bavuma.
