Gautam Gambhir's time as India's head coach hasn't got off to the best of starts. The former India opener took over from Rahul Dravid after the 2024 T20 World Cup, which India had won. International cricket has been rather uncharacteristically sparse for the team since then and this has meant that India have played just four series since then under Gambhir and his staff.

The latest result was back-to-back Test match defeats to New Zealand at home. The first of the two losses marked New Zealand's first Test win in India since 1988. The second helped them confirm their first-ever Test series win in the country. That brought to an end a record streak of 18 consecutive Test series wins at home for India. It was also the first time since 2012 that India lost a Test series in their backyard.

This defeat was preceded by a dominant win over an upbeat Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, with India forcing a result in the second Test despite more than two days being washed out. However, India had lost an ODI series against Sri Lanka before that for the first time since 1997 in what was Gautam Gambhir's second assignment as head coach. India's tactics and their selection for the two Tests against New Zealand have also come under criticism and all this has put Gambhir under a bit of a spotlight already.

New Zealand's tour of India ends with the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium that is scheduled to be played from November 1 to 5. That would effectively mark the end of Gambhir's third assignment as head coach in the larger scheme of things and fifth series overall across formats. Gambhir's first gig as head coach was India's tour of Sri Lanka. India drubbed the hosts 3-0 in the T20I series but then lost 2-0 in the subsequent ODI series. They then hosted Bangladesh and beat them 2-0 in the Test series and 3-0 in the T20I series. However, this was followed by the two Test defeats to New Zealand.

Let's take a look at how India fared in their first three tours under the previous head coaches, Rahul Dravid - Gambhir's predecessor, and Ravi Shastri:

Ravi Shastri: Shastri's tenure started in July 2017 with an away tour of Sri Lanka. It started with a three-match Test series, which remains the last that India have played in the country. India won it 3-0, thrashing Sri Lanka by 304 runs in the first Test, an innings and 53 runs in the second and an innings and 171 runs in the third. This was followed by a five-match ODI series which India dominated as well, winning by nine wickets, three wickets, six wickets, 168 runs and six wickets. The tour ended with a T20I match that India won by seven wickets.

India then hosted Australia and New Zealand for two white ball tours. Australia played a five-match ODI series which India won 5-1. Australia won the third ODI by 21 runs, thus handing Shastri his first defeat as India's head coach. The three-match T20I series that followed was a 1-1 draw, with India winning the first by nine wickets, Australia winning the second by eight wickets and the third match being abandoned due to a poor outfield. New Zealand then played three ODIs and as many T20Is. India won the ODI series 2-1, with New Zealand winning the first match. The T20I series was also won by the hosts 2-1 - New Zealand won the second match by 40 runs.

Rahul Dravid: India hosted New Zealand for three T20Is and two Tests in Dravid's first assignment as head coach over the course of November and December 2021. They won the T20I series 3-0 and the Test series 1-0, with New Zealand managing to force a draw in the first match.

This was followed by a tour of South Africa where India started off by winning the first Test by a whopping 113 runs. However, they eventually lost 2-1 in what was Virat Kohli last series as India's Test captain. South Africa then thrashed India 3-0 in the subsequent 3-match ODI series. This was followed by a white-ball tour by the West Indies of India. The hosts ended up winning both the ODI and T20I series 3-0 each.

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