Former India chief selector MSK Prasad urged patience before judging coach Gautam Gambhir‘s, saying that the T20I defeats in Ireland and England came without two of India’s most influential players, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.India endured a difficult tour, losing the two-match series against Ireland 2-0 before suffering a 4-0 defeat to England. Pandya missed the tour due to fitness issues, while Bumrah was rested from T20Is.Prasad believes it would be unfair to rate Gambhir based on those results alone.“Just because the team didn’t do well, we can’t put the onus on the head coach alone. We can’t say Gambhir didn’t inspire the team. At the same time, just because we have won tournaments or World Cups does not mean that it is only Gambhir who has inspired the team. It is a combination of many things. It is too premature to write off Gambhir,” Prasad told PTI.He said the team’s upcoming full T20I assignment will provide a better measure of the coach and captain.“What we have to evaluate is when we play the next T20I series when the whole side is there, including Bumrah and Pandya, how is this team doing? Then we can talk about who is inspired by whom, or if the captain is able to handle it, or the coach is able to handle it. So, the next T20 series is something that we really have to evaluate.”Prasad, however, was critical of the decision to leave Saint Samson out after a brief run of low scores, especially considering the wicketkeeper batsman’s performances during India’s successful T20 World Cup campaign.“Why is the ax still on Sanju? Dropping Sanju was a big mistake. He is the best player in English conditions. He is very good when the wickets are hard and they bounce.“He has delivered match performances in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of the recently won T20 World Cup. He is the player of the World Cup. And suddenly, in games 2-3, he did not run and you leave him.”The former selector also expressed concern over the handling of teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, saying the youngster should have been introduced more gradually instead of being thrust into a high-pressure series against England.According to Prasad, Sooryavanshi’s debut created unnecessary uncertainty in the playing XI.“Sending Vaibhav to Ireland and Zimbabwe is acceptable. Because if you’re going to build a player, I think you have to build slowly, especially when you’re dealing with an incredible 15-year-old talent.“We need to be very careful and cautious in the field about him. You see, this caused a little disturbance in game 11, the kind of pressure that all quarters put on the coach and the captain to play Vaibhav. The first couple of matches, Sanju did not do well. So, there was a lot of pressure. When Vaibhav didn’t do well, there was again a lot of pressure to bring Sanju back.”Prasad also questioned why Sooryavanshi was not picked for the Ireland series before being given a debut against stronger opposition.“To begin with, I should have waited with Vaibhav, letting him go through a full season of Indian domestic cricket. He played continuously, IPL then India A series, he was on the road for a long time.“For someone that age, it is always better to bring him slowly through the ranks. He had, first of all, included him in the Ireland series. Not including him in the Ireland series before was a mistake,” he said.