Following his success with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Gautam Gambhir has begun his tenure as the head coach of the Indian national team with the task of building on Rahul Dravid’s highly successful tenure in the role. Gambhir, who won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup, was appointed as the head coach of the national team on July 9, 2024, replacing Dravid.
Dravid’s tenure as India’s head coach ended after the victorious T20 World Cup and he did not reapply for the job due to personal reasons. It was already known that Dravid would step down from the post after the T20 World Cup and some even expected that there would be different head coaches for different formats.
However, the BCCI opted for its tried and tested model of having one head coach for all three formats and appointed Gambhir.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah explained the decision to The Times of India. He said, “We have to listen to the coach we are recruiting. If we have selected Gautam Gambhir and he is interested in coaching in all three formats, then who am I to say, ‘You cannot coach any particular format’. More or less 70 per cent of the players are the same in all three formats.”
India has replacement for head coach
He mentioned that India has enough replacements for the head coach’s role and added, “We have coaches from the NCA. When Rahul Dravid took a break, VVS Laxman stepped in.”
Gambhir’s tenure as India coach began on July 27, when India began their tour of Sri Lanka with a three-match T20I series, which India won 3-0. The T20I series was followed by a three-match ODI series, which the hosts won 2-0.
The next task for Gambhir is the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, followed by three T20Is against them. However, the main focus this year is the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which begins on November 22. The series was expanded to five Test matches this year and India has held the trophy since 2017, having recorded series wins on their last two tours of Australia.
Apart from the change in management, India has also seen major changes in the T20Is with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opting out of the format. The BCCI has appointed Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain, snubbing Hardik Pandya.
