Gautam Gambhir was officially named next India head coach by BCCI.
After Gautam Gambhir was officially announced as the new Team India head coach, the wheels have been set into motion when it comes to appointing a new support staff as well. Gambhir’s tenure will begin with a Sri Lanka tour in July-August.
Along with Rahul Dravid, the BCCI also bid farewell and thanked batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip in a statement on the website.
"The Board also congratulates Mr. Paras Mhambrey (Bowling Coach), Mr T. Dilip (Fielding Coach), and Mr Vikram Rathour (Batting Coach) on a highly successful tenure. The BCCI values their contribution and wishes them the best going forward," the BCCI release stated.
Like previous head coaches, Gautam Gambhir has been given a free hand to choose his support staff and the first person expected to join Gambhir is former India cricketer and KKR coach Abhishek Nayar, Cricbuzz reported.
Nayar has been instrumental in KKR’s success and won the IPL 2024. At KKR, the two enjoy a solid working rapport. Gambhir is looking for a colleague who is known to be dedicated and serious at his job. Nayar fits the bill there and has also been closely associated with India skipper Rohit Sharma in the past. Abhishek Nayar is expected to be named as assistant coach.
As for the fielding coach, the name of Jonty Rhodes was doing rounds, given that he and Gambhir worked closely for two years in Lucknow Super Giants. However, the report has stated that BCCI is keen to retain T Dilip as the fielding coach.
Coming to the bowling coach post, reports have claimed that Gautam Gambhir has put forth the name of Vinay Kumar. However, the BCCI is not likely to appoint Vinay Kumar.
As per the Times Now report, BCCI doesn’t want one person to have so much authority and is instead looking at L Balaji or Zaheer Khan as the next bowling coach of the Indian team.
Zaheer Khan has significant leadership experience and worked as Director of Cricket Operations with Mumbai Indians while Balaji has served as the bowling coach for Chennai Super Kings.
The board believes Zaheer Khan or Balaji would be a better fit for the bowling coach position, which is something the BCCI is looking for someone who can develop the next generation of fast bowlers, like Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav, and Tushar Deshpande, to mention a few.
(Cricbuzz and Times Now report)