Gautam Gambhir: The Indian cricket team’s performance in the ODI series against New Zealand came as a big surprise to everyone when they lost the series 2-1 and this was considered a home ground defeat. Particularly because of India’s recent good home record, the fans and the analysts were shocked by the result. In the third and last match, the Kiwis made a deathly target in part due to the enormous centuries of Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, and even though Virat Kohli scored a century, India could not follow the run and finally lost by 41 runs. The series result was an unusual home ODI series defeat for India and it drew more attention to the team’s tactics and captaincy that came after the Kiwis’ collapse.
Social Media Reactions On Gautam Gambhir After New Zealand Shock India In Home Series
Gautam Gambhir, the head coach who succeeded Rahul Dravid in 2024, was soon after the defeat the center of harsh criticism on social media. The fans and the critics vented their anger through imprecations, memes and posts questioning the coach’s judgment and especially his boys’ selection and tactical decisions, throughout the series, poor and oscillating. Even some fans resorted to compiling various lists of failures in the coach’s time, putting down that amongst others, India losing its Test series at home and abroad lately had no less to do with his bad oversight which only made the tainted image of the team a growing trend under his leadership.
Congratulations to #gautamgambhir for helping NZ create history twice!
First the 12 year Test streak, now the ODI legacy.
“12 saal mein ek baar” logic has expired.
The situation is getting too ‘Gambhir’ to handle. Time to ‘Gautam’ go?#INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/K4t2UWBkp6— Adv. Aman Yadav (@amanakkiyadav) January 18, 2026
– Dropped Mohammad Shami ❌
– Dropped Axar Patel ❌
– No Jasprit Bumrah ❌
– No Hardik Pandya ❌
– Dropped Ruturaj Gaikwad after century ❌Is Gautam Gambhir & Ajit Agarkar Era is worst Era of Indian Cricket history ?#GautamGambhir
#INDvsNZ#gautamgambhir pic.twitter.com/z2BaEbgLDk— RS (@Sachin168819) January 18, 2026
wrong captain, wrong coach & worng team selector
All these people together have ruined Indian cricket.#INDvsNZ #GautamGambhir #AjitAgarkar pic.twitter.com/IIqeZczKR3
— Bhanu Sri (@Bhanucritic) January 18, 2026
Gautam Gambhir: IND vs NZ 3rd ODI
One of the main reasons for the online protests was the choices made in the series, like arguments about the selection of bowlers such as the left arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, whose absence at the start of the series was a widely discussed topic, and demands for the inclusion of Mohammed Shami, the seasoned player, back in the playing XI. There was an outpouring of discontent from both players and fans, with a big percentage of them being just as surprised as the Indian management over the strategic calls as the batting and bowling units were not able to seize the timing which were so crucial. The debates in social media continue and questions regarding Gambhir’s long term role and the overall direction of the team are likely to be there for a long time, especially after the New Zealand defeat.
