Gautam Gambhir has encountered resistance from the BCCI in selecting his support staff members, with five of his recommendations being rejected so far.
New Delhi: The newly appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir is facing many obstacles from BCCI in finalising his supporting staff. Unlike the previous head coaches, Gambhir has faced resistance from the BCCI for the majority of his picks. Gambhir’s latest recommendation of Morne Morkal as the bowling coach also faced rejection.
Gautam Gambhir was eager to include former South African speedster Morne Morkel, who served as Pakistan’s bowling coach during last year’s ODI World Cup and is currently with IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants, in his coaching staff. However, The Economic Times reports that the BCCI has turned down Gambhir’s proposal.
This was Gambhir’s third choice for the bowling coach position that the BCCI has rejected. His earlier picks, R Vinay Kumar and Laximipathy Balaji, were also not approved in the initial discussions between the board and the new head coach of Team India.
The bowling coach isn’t the only position where Gambhir’s recommendations were declined. Two of his choices for fielding coach—Ryan ten Doeschate and Jonty Rhodes—were also turned down by the board.
Among Gambhir’s picks, former India all-rounder Abhishek Nayar seems to be the frontrunner to join his support staff, either as an assistant coach or batting coach. Though nothing is confirmed yet, multiple media reports indicate that Nayar, renowned for revitalizing the careers of Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer, is likely to get the green light.
Interestingly, the common thread among the candidates rejected by the BCCI is their connection to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Gambhir either captained them or worked with them on the KKR coaching staff. In the case of Ryan ten Doeschate, he played under Gambhir and later collaborated with him as a coach. This KKR bond might have influenced Gambhir’s choices, but it hasn’t swayed the board’s decisions.
Morne Morkel, Laximipathy Balaji, and Vinay Kumar each played three seasons for KKR under Gambhir’s captaincy. Abhishek Nayar is the only one who didn’t play under Gambhir at KKR but served as the assistant coach for the franchise that Gambhir mentored to the IPL title this year.
Generally, the BCCI allows the head coach significant autonomy in selecting their support staff. This practice has been in place for ages. During the tenures of Greg Chappell and Gary Kirsten, they included relatively lesser-known names like Ian Frazer and Paddy Upton in their support teams.
Not much changed under Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, and Rahul Dravid. Shastri notably disregarded recommendations from the then-Cricket Advisory Committee of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman, opting for his own choices instead. Dravid also chose Paras Mhambrey and T Dilip as the bowling and fielding coaches, respectively, both of whom he had worked with at the NCA.
“One insider has suggested that this was one way in which BCCI was letting Gambhir know that although he was its choice for head coach, he was not going to be the one calling the shots. There was also a school of thought that suggested that this was only reflective of the change in the functioning of BCCI. Where previously decisions were taken largely by committee and consensus, it’s an open secret that the power is now centred around few individuals,” the report added.
With barely 10 days to go before Gambhir begins his coaching journey with Team India for the T20I series in Sri Lanka, the current NCA coaching staff will likely serve as the interim support staff for the former India opener until the board and Gambhir reach a consensus on his selections.
