Gautam Gambhir's move from an Indian Premier League (IPL) coach to Team India head coach began on the right footing. Everything seemed hunky-dory until the New Zealand Test series at home in October-November. By then, demands for Gambhir to be sacked had come up. 

Team India had not lost at home for 12 years. The sequence did not only end but was a shameful first-ever home whitewash in Indian Test history. Soon, a few months later, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also lost after 10 years. 

The drawn series against England has somewhat justified Gambhir, but his strategy has been questioned a lot. It seems he chooses the team more like an Indian T20 match than a Test. 

In the midst of all this criticism, Deep Dasgupta, the former India wicketkeeper batter, has come in his support. He believes that everyone, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), ought to support him. Given that Gambhir inherited a team in transition, with players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma retiring while he was in charge, he was bound to struggle. 

Here is what Dasgupta told RevSportz:

“This team is going through a transition period, and for me, the transition period would have two phases. First one is the earlier generation leaving. Then, the next one where you are creating a new side for the future. I think we’re still in that middle phase where a lot of the guys are leaving and the new guys are coming in. So you’ve got to put whole of Gautam’s strength so far in that context. You’ve got to be a little more patient, not just with Gautam, but with the team and players as well, which would be another 6-8 months,” 

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The cricketer-turned-pundit believes Gambhir must be given time to develop a team. If after 6 to 8 months India falters at home particularly, then by all means, discussion about his ouster must be initiated. 

“I think this team, whether it’s white-ball or red-ball, you’ll have a better idea of where the team is, a better idea of how the coaches performed if we give it some time. It’s little too early, keeping in mind that Indian teams going into a transition, to say anything about Gautam. I think he has done a good job in England. Yeah, obviously, we’re talking about a start from the New Zealand series at home, which was kind of nightmarish. But then again, that was kind of start of the transition period, isn’t it? And I don’t think it’s complete as yet. I think it’ll be unfair to start judging based on what we’ve seen in the last 6-8 months,” he added.

Gautam Gambhir has had a so-so beginning as India's head coach. Sure, there've been failures, but one must also recall that he began at a time when there were massive transitions.

With big guns like Kohli and Rohit stepping down, it takes time to construct a new side. Deep Dasgupta believes Gambhir should be given some more months to find his feet. If matters do not improve, then and only then should his future come under questioning.