Gambhir's balancing act with a team in transition

Nearly two years into Gautam Gambhir's tenure, Indian cricket presents an interesting contrast. In white-ball cricket, the results have been emphatic. India have won the Asia Cup, the Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup under his watch, cementing their status as the dominant force in limited-overs cricket. In Tests, however, the picture has been considerably more complicated.

After beginning with a 2-0 sweep of Bangladesh at home, India endured a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand, suffered a 1-3 series defeat in Australia, fought their way to a 2-2 draw in England, beat West Indies 2-0 at home and then lost 2-0 to South Africa. Somewhere in the middle of that period came the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and R Ashwin, forcing the side into its most significant red-ball reset in over a decade.