Starting with India’s tour of Sri Lanka, Gautam Gambhir will take over Rahul Dravid as team India’s new head coach, there is no suspense or mystery over it anymore. Gambhir, whose announcement as coach was made last Wednesday, miss out on the Zimbabwe tour, where VVS Laxman took over as the coach, but with Gambhir ready to take charge in 10 days, a new era of cricket is expected to unfold.
It is a point to be noted that, Gambhir has no prior experience as head coach, unlike his successor Dravid or Ravi Shastri. He has only served as a mentor for three seasons- 2 with Lucknow Super Giants and 1 with Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this year. Though Gambhir has only serves as a mentor, he has made great output as LSG reached the Playoffs in IPL 2022 and 2023, whereas KKR won the title itself, two months ago.
Gambhir may not be rich in coaching experience, but he brings out a solid outcome to the table, one that is believed to be a right mix of aggression and balance which might take Indian cricket to heights that have never been seen before.
So far, Gambhir’s peers have had nothing to give other than good feedback regarding his new role. However, Kapil Dev, the former Indian captain, chose to stop himself from commenting anything on Gambhir’s appointment and simply wished the Indian team good luck for their future.
“If Gautam Gambhir is taking up that post (of the new head coach), I wish good luck to him and the team. I hope they do better than what we have done previously. I want to wish the Indian players all the best,” said Kapil.
Gambhir’s appointment is expected to be starting with big things to do as before him, Dravid led India to a World Cup victory in 13 years and an ICC trophy in 11 years. Gambhir is in for a big challenge in his tenure with the 5-Test series is Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year, then the Champions Trophy and the 3rd World Test Championship next year, followed by T20 World Cup at home in 2026.
According to reports, Gambhir wants Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to be a part of the series, who previously opted out of the Sri Lanka tour. he wants them as there is only a small amount of ODIs left between now and the CT lined up in February 2025. Also, under Gambhir, India may see a new T20I captain. According to an emerging report, following the recent retirement of Rohit Sharma from T20I, Suryakumar Yadav is set to take over as captain instead of Hardik Pandya.
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