The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has rejected most of new head coach Gautam Gambhir’s support staff choices, approving only one. According to the sources, the only name from Gambhir’s suggestions that was accepted by the Indian cricket board was Abhishek Nayar for the role of batting coach.
Gambhir had proposed South African pacer Morne Morkel and former India bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji for the bowling coach position. For the fielding coach role, he suggested Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate and South African Jonty Rhodes.
However, the BCCI is reportedly inclined to appoint former India pacer Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach, while T Dilip, who served as the fielding coach under Rahul Dravid, remains the preferred choice for the fielding coach role. This approach differs from that of previous coaches like Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, both of whom had the support staff of their choosing.
Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid following India’s T20 World Cup victory. The former Indian opener brings coaching experience from the IPL, where he led the Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in the 2024 season as a mentor. His first assignment as head coach will be the tour of Sri Lanka, where India will play three T20Is on July 27, 28, and 30, followed by three ODIs on August 2, 4, and 7.
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Meanwhile, BCCI has announced the India Squad for Sri Lanka tour and Suryakumar Yadav has been named captain in the T20Is. Interestingly, Shubman Gill has been announced as vice captain in both the T20Is and ODIs. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play in the ODI series. Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kuldeep Yadav have been dropped from T20Is despite good performances in the past.
Reports are emerging that Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI career is finished and he won’t be in consideration for selection in the upcoming series and tournaments. Riyan Parag has been named in both ODI and T20I team despite struggling on the Zimbabwe tour. There are a lot of surprises in the squads announced and most of them could be associated with Gautam Gambhir.