Gautam Gambhir, the Indian Premier League winning coach, is expected to succeed Rahul Dravid as the new head coach of the Indian senior men’s national team, as per reports. Despite his recent commitment to IPL franchise Knight Riders, the World Cup-winning former opener is eager to take on the task.
Even though Dravid’s tenure is slated to end in June, the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has invited applications for the top job. The deadline to apply for the head coach position was May 27.
In addition to several well-known Australians, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) appeared to be considering Gambhir above other IPL coaches, like Stephen Fleming and Andy Flower, for the position of head coach of the Indian squad.
As KKR put on a dominant display in the IPL 2024 league stage and finished as the top team, talk about Gambhir began. A few games later, the Knight Riders won the championship by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the championship match. Gambhir also had a long conversation with BCCI Secretary Jay Shah following the final. The visuals did spark rumors, even if what was discussed in the chat was unknown.
Gautam Gambhir has no coaching experience at the international level:
The second half of the IPL 2024 season saw more talk of Gautam Gambhir taking on the head coach position. But with his newfound affiliation with the Knight Riders, it was unclear if the former opener would express enthusiasm for taking on the challenging position.
For the first time since he left the team as a player in 2017, Gambhir was back at KKR. The two-time champion captain was chosen to be the team’s mentor, and he had an instant influence, leading KKR to victory in their third IPL title match on May 26.
The KKR ownership group trusts and respects Gambhir, therefore, he is free to stay longer with the Knight Riders. Nonetheless, a person with knowledge of the situation claimed that Gambhir was up to leading the senior national squad.
The insider claimed that although there was no official approach made, the board and Gambhir advanced their conversation through casual conversations.
Although Gambhir hasn’t held a high-level coaching position before, his time spent mentoring IPL players appears to have persuaded BCCI executives that the former opener is the best choice to replace Rahul Dravid as the team’s captain.
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