Team India set to get its new head coach soon
The Indian coaching job will be a three-year assigment which will require Gautam Gambhir to let go of the KKR mentorship in the IPL.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir is all set to replace Rahul Dravid as Team India’s next head coach. Dravid, whose contract was extended after the ODI World Cup last year, is on his final assignment with the Indian cricket team, i.e., the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies.
According to Dainik Jagran, the BCCI on Thursday zeroed in on Gambhir and will announce it officially at the end of this week. The report further stated that the former Indian opener will select his team of support staff, which includes the batting coach, bowling coach and fielding coach.
Currently, Dravid is accompanied by Vikram Rathour as the batting coach, Paras Mhambrey as the bowling coach and T Dilip as the fielding coach. Rathour has been with the team since replacing Sanjay Bangar during Ravi Shastri’s tenure. The rest two – Mhambrey and Dilip – were handpicked by Dravid.
IPL mentor to India head coach
Gambhir may not have prior coaching experience but has been associated with a couple of IP franchises as a mentor. After spending two years with the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he returned to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and guided the Shreyas Iyer-led side to a third title win last month.
As far as the Indian coaching job is concerned, a three-year stint with the team, Gambhir will have to let go of the KKR job.
Too many names in the fray
As per various media reports, too many former cricketers seemed to be in the fray when the BCCI initially rolled out the vacancy. The list included former Australian skipper and current Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting, former Australia coach and current Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer, former England coach and current RCB coach Andy Flower, current Rajasthan Royals’ coach Kumar Sangakkara, including Gambhir.
But gradually, all these big-ticket names fell off the grid. While Langer and Flower made it clear that they were not interested in the job, citing various reasons – Langer took the advice of LSG skipper KL Rahul about the pressure and politics that came with the job and opted out. At the same time, Flower said his focus remained with the RCB. The same was the case with Sangakkara.
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