Gautam Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as India new head coach. The white-ball series against Sri Lanka will be Gambhir first assignment as head coach.
New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir conducted his first training session as India’s new head coach in Pallekele on Tuesday ahead of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. India are going to play three ODIs and three T20Is against the Lankans starting from July 27. Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid in India’s backroom staff after the former India captain decided not to re-apply for the job following India’s T20 World Cup 2024 win.
Earlier, the Indian team arrived in Colombo to a warm welcome, with the recently-crowned T20 world champions playfully mingling with fans and giving them some precious moments. The 15-member India team along with the support staff had left Mumbai on Monday after a pre-departure press conference addressed by Gambhir and BCCI’s chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.
! #TeamIndia | #SLvIND | @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/sbG7VLfXGc
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 23, 2024
They arrived the same same day in Pallekele after a short layover in Colombo. “Mumbai to Pallekele via Colombo. TeamIndia have reached Sri Lanka,” wrote BCCI on ‘X’ with a short video showing the players enjoying their air and road journey to the fullest.
The team, comprising of several youngsters with Shubman Gill as the vice-captain, is without stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, who announced retirement from T20Is following India’s title triumph in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.
Suryakumar was last week appointed the new T20I captain ahead of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who previous led the side, because of his fitness and the feedback the team management got from the dressing room. The team has a fair sprinkling of experience as apart from Suryakumar and Gill, it also has Sanju Samson, Pandya and pacers Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh among others.
