Gautam Gambhir all set to take charge as India's head coach as BCCI allows him to choose his own support staff: Report
Gautam Gambhir could reportedly be announced as India head coach soon.
With Rahul Dravid's tenure as India head coach set to expire after the 2024 World Cup, the clamour around the appointment of next India head coach has grown. Reportedly, Gautam Gambhir is all but confirmed to be the next India head coach with the BCCI likely to make the announcement this week.
According to a report by Dainik Jagran, BCCI confirmed Gambhir as India head coach on Thursday and official announcement is expected to be made by the end of this week. The report states that the exact date of Gambhir's announcement as head coach will depend on India's performance during the World Cup.
Moreover, Gambhir has also reportedly asked that he should pick his own support staff. The current support staff incudes Vikram Rathour as batting coach, Paras Mhambrey as bowling coach, T Dilip as fielding coach.
After Dravid took over as India head coach from Ravi Shastri in 2021, he retained Vikram Rathour as the batting coach but Bharat Arun had to make way for Mahambrey while R Sridhar was replaced by Dilip.
Gambhir's experience as a coach:
Notably, Gambhir hasn't had much experience in terms of a coaching position yet. However, he has held the position of mentor for Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders.
During his two-year stint with LSG, the Lucknow-based franchise made it to the playoff stages in both the years. Meanwhile, during his role as KKR Mentor this year, he helped the franchise clinch the IPL 2024 trophy after a gap of 10 years.
After winning the IPL 2024 trophy, KKR batter Nitish Rana had shared a conversation he had with Gambhir prior to the start of the season. He said, “I want to share one short story that when GG bhaiya (Gambhir) was named the mentor, I sent him a long message as I was really happy. But he replied saying, 'Thank you but I would be happy if we stand at the podium with the trophy in our hands'. Today is that day and I will never forget that message,”