India’s Test side have somehow contrived to lose yet another home series within just a year, and the collective groan around the country is deafening. Many fans now joke that Gautam Gambhir is marching Indian Test cricket straight to its own funeral. With people pulling out old spreadsheets to compare Gautam Gambhir’s winning percentage as coach, the question floating around is simple: is he actually the worst coach India have had, or is the outrage just louder this time?

How Previous India Coaches Actually Performed

When you line up India’s past Test coaches side by side, you quickly see why supporters are so exasperated today. The history is rich, the dominance almost routine, and the numbers absolutely brutal in comparison, which is why both India winning percentage in Test debates and the ever-popular India head coach list have started making the rounds again.

John Wright, India’s first major-era foreign coach, set the standard with 11 wins, four losses and nine draws at home, giving India a strong W-L ratio of 2.75. Greg Chappell, controversial as he was, still produced three wins and only one loss in his six home Tests. Then came Gary Kirsten, under whom India rose to No.1 in the world: 10 wins, two losses, seven draws, a superb W-L ratio of 5.00. Duncan Fletcher kept the machine humming with 11 wins in 15 home Tests and a W-L ratio of 5.50, despite his overall reputation being more mixed.

India Head Coaches Winning Percentage in Home Tests

And then the Ravi Shastri era, the gold-plated stretch of recent memory. Shastri’s side won 15 out of 19 home Tests, lost just one, and never dropped a single home series. Add in two Border-Gavaskar wins in Australia and you can see why the man remains a benchmark whenever India winning percentage in Test discussions pop up. Anil Kumble? He was a statistical monster: 10 wins, one loss, two draws at home, a ridiculous W-L ratio of 10.00.

India Head Coaches Loss in Home Test Series

Even Rahul Dravid, criticised by some for his conservative approach, delivered 14 wins, seven losses and three draws for a healthy 58.3% win rate. Put all this together, and you get a very intimidating India head coach list, one that puts Gautam Gambhir’s winning percentage as coach in a pretty unforgiving spotlight. When you consider that India lost only two home Test series between 2000 and 2022, Gambhir overseeing two more in the span of just 13 months feels unprecedented for this century.

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After the South Africa Defeat：Gambhir Speaks, Fans Roast

The Guwahati Test was a shocker: a 408-run demolition, India’s biggest defeat by runs in Test history. But the post-match press conference somehow caused just as much commotion. Gambhir insisted the squad wouldn’t hide behind excuses. His most-quoted line came when addressing India’s latest batting collapse:

“Again, the buck should stop with everyone, as simple as that, because yes, we need to apply better. At one stage, we were 95 for 1. I’m sure you guys must be watching the game. From 95 for 1 to 120 for 7, it’s not acceptable. We keep talking about that spell, but then one seamer got four wickets in that spell. And we’ve had these collapses in the past as well. Someone needs to put their hand up and say that I’m going to stop this—stop this, whatever you call it, the collapse.”

He followed it with another emphasis on collective accountability:

“I expect better from everyone. I expect better from myself than everyone in that room. I’m not going to sit here and say I expect something better from one individual… You don’t blame one individual shot or one individual for playing in a certain way. You blame everyone.”

And finally, the line that triggered half the country’s cricketing memes:

“I hate using this word—transition—but this is exactly what transition is. When your batting lineup has played fewer than 15–20 Test matches, they need time. Hopefully, they keep learning.”

The issue? Fans remember him saying India weren’t a young team after the heroic 2-2 draw in England earlier this summer. So when he now explains home losses using that label, supporters feel the goalposts are being moved especially when Gautam Gambhir’s winning percentage as coach, already compared ruthlessly on every social platform, sits far lower than the coaches before him on the widely shared India head coach list. Even those defending him cannot argue that India winning percentage in Test numbers have dipped sharply.

Two home Test series defeats for India during Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach pic.twitter.com/iwtq8076up

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) November 26, 2025

The Most Crucial Stretch of Gambhir’s Coaching Life

For all the fire he’s taking, Gambhir’s white-ball record remains excellent, but red-ball cricket is a different beast, and India are now bleeding away World Test Championship points faster than anyone expected. This is, without question, the most pressure-packed phase of his coaching career.

Gambhir said “People keep forgetting it. I am the same guy who got results in England with a young team. You guys will forget very soon. A lot of people keep talking about New Zealand. I am the same guy under whom we won the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup as well. This is a… pic.twitter.com/tc0XmfcyaY

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) November 26, 2025

With fans scrutinising Gautam Gambhir’s winning percentage as coach, comparing it endlessly to historic India winning percentage in Test benchmarks and the legendary names on the India head coach list, his future is anything but secure. Whether he steadies the sinking ship or becomes a cautionary tale in India’s Test history will be one of the most gripping storylines in the months ahead.