India’s upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka will mark the beginning of Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach. He took over from Rahul Dravid, who signed off as India head coach after the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph last month.

Besides Dravid, the tenures of Vikram Rathour (batting coach) and Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach) also ended with the T20 World Cup.

According to Cricbuzz report, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are set to join the Indian coaching staff for the Sri Lanka tour. On the other hand, T Dilip has been retained as a fielding coach following his effective performance under Dravid.

While Nayar and Ten Doeschate will travel with the team as assistant coaches, there is still doubt over the appointment of a bowling coach.

The report further claims that Gambhir’s former KKR teammate, Morne Morkel, is one of the strong candidates for the bowling coach role.

Notably, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate worked with Gautam Gambhir in KKR’s IPL 2024 winning campaign. Before joining KKR as a mentor earlier this year, Gambhir played a similar role for Lucknow Super Giants, where he worked with Morkel for a couple of years.

Dilip and Nayar are likely to depart for Sri Lanka with the Indian team on Monday (July 22) while Ten Doeschate, who is currently in the USA with LA Knight Riders, will join the team directly in Colombo.

While there is no clarity on Morkel's plans yet, the report suggests that the BCCI has held discussions with the former South African pacer about potentially becoming the team's bowling coach.

India’s tour of Sri Lanka is slated to get underway with the three-match T20I series on July 27. It will be followed by an ODI series of three games.

(With Cricbuzz Inputs)