​’Gautam Gambhir has become India’s punching bag’: Report dismisses Ajit Agarkar rift, says coach ‘safe’ until 2027 World Cup originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.Gautam Gambhir has been made into a “punching bag” even though India has won two ICC trophies in his reign, says a report.Rumours about his rift with chief selector Ajit Agarkar have been denied in the report.It is claimed that Gambhir’s position as head coach will remain ‘safe’ until the ODI World Cup 2027.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGautam Gambhir has turned out to be one of the most controversial personalities in Indian cricket after his appointment as head coach as all the decisions made by him and their results have been critically analysed.But according to a report by Abhishek Tripathi in Jagran, Gambhir has become the “punching bag” for the team as he is always blamed for whatever happens irrespective of India’s performance.Per the report, Gambhir continues to receive criticism even after turning out to be the first Indian head coach who leads his team to win two successive ICC titles in the 2025 Champions Trophy and 2026 T20 World Cup.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMoreover, it was further added that there is no threat to the job of Gambhir as he would continue as the head coach of India until the 2027 ODI World Cup.MORE:How Stokes vs Botham stats compare after ‘has-been vs never-been’ exchangeThe possibility of any rift between Gambhir and the chief selector Ajit Agarkar was talked about, after some remarks made by former Indian cricket player Dinesh Karthik, who felt that there may be some disagreement in the Indian decision-making panel.But the report debunked all these allegations and said that Gambhir and Agarkar are still in agreement with each other on most of the important matters.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs per the report, some source said that there is an exchange of ideas between the head coach and the chief selector and “talk twice a day”.”The two men, Agarkar and Gambhir do not have any problem with each other, they are rather angry with some selectors, who are trying to hog the limelight,” said the report.The report said that some selectors are making efforts to show that India has progressed because of their decisions and have criticized the coach only for failures.MORE:Rohit Sharma faces fierce fan backlash, asked to make way for Yashasvi JaiswalThe report brought to light how Gambhir has been blamed by people for his decisions regarding players of India.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementRight from the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to Suryakumar Yadav being captain, Washington Sundar being a part of the team and the decision involving Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi, it was all put on Gambhir according to the report.Virat Kohli and Rohit SharmaBCCI/CreimasThe report even talked about how he was blamed when Kohli got out by a straight d