India are fifth in the WTC table, and Gambhir says the rankings do not matter
India’s head coach was asked in Colombo whether his Test side is struggling, and would not accept the question. Gambhir has the Galle win and two white-ball trophies to point at, and a home record that keeps the doubts alive.
Aug 22, 2026
Gautam Gambhir took his seat at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Saturday, 22 August, a day out from the second Test against Sri Lanka, and got the question that has trailed him for most of two years. Is this India side struggling in the format? He declined the premise entirely.
“Not at all; we are not struggling that much. Rankings do not matter,” the India head coach said. “I think we are going through a transition, and I’m sure that people sitting in the press box and in the commentary box know that we’re going through a transition.”
The table says one thing, the coach says another
Gambhir’s argument is that the standings measure where India have been rather than where they are going. “You guys can go by the ranking, but we don’t because we know where we are heading, and wherever we are heading, we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.
He also chose a starting point for the defence, and it was not a random one. “Despite that, yes, there will be blips, there will be ups and downs, but I thought that in the last year since the England tour, I think we’ve played reasonably consistent cricket.” The tour he means is the 2-2 draw in England in the summer of 2025, settled by six runs at the Oval on the final morning, and it is still the best India have played in Tests under him.
The record that keeps prompting the question
Reporters keep asking because of what sits on the scorecards. New Zealand won 3-0 in India in November 2024, the first time India had been swept 3-0 at home by anyone. India then lost 3-1 in Australia and missed the World Test Championship final. South Africa arrived in November 2025 and won 2-0, closing with a 408-run win at Guwahati, their first series victory in India in 25 years.
Set against that are two white-ball titles, the Champions Trophy in Dubai in March 2025 and the T20 World Cup at home a year later, and Gambhir was blunt about which currency he deals in. “My job is to win trophies, not views and likes. That’s all I believe in.”
Galle handed him two names to point at
The timing helps him. India won the first Test at Galle by 165 runs, and the two who decided it are both early in their Test careers. Devdutt Padikkal made 167 in the first innings, his maiden Test hundred. Manav Suthar took ten wickets in the match, in only his second Test, having taken 6 for 33 on debut against Afghanistan in June.
Gambhir called that satisfying and then immediately put a brake on it. Judging a player on one match, he said, is not fair. That cuts both ways, which is more or less the argument he has been making about the batters who have not scored yet.
He wants longer series, and this one shows why
One answer went past the immediate row. Gambhir said he would prefer three-match Test series, because a side that loses the opener should still be able to come back and win. In a two-Test series it cannot. Sri Lanka lost at Galle, so the best they can now do in Colombo is square it.
What is left for India are World Test Championship points, and those are the part Gambhir cannot wave away, because they are the ranking. India sit fifth in the current cycle. A win at the SSC would take the series and improve that number.
It would also be the last word for a while. After Colombo, India’s next Test assignment is a two-match series in New Zealand in November, before Australia arrive in January 2027 for five more. Whatever verdict comes out of this week has under three months to sit there.