Gautam Gambhir, India’s former opening batsman and present Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, is all set to succeed Rahul Dravid as India’s men cricket team’s Head Coach by the end of this month. The announcement of Gambhir’s appointment is likely to be made after the T20 World Cup final, which will be played on June 29.
While there has been no official announcement by the BCCI so far, a Dainik Jagran report on Sunday said that the decision is all but a done deal. Dravid, who had earlier made it clear that he will not extend his tenure, will retire as India coach after the T20 tournament.
The report also said that the BCCI top officials have already agreed on the succession plan in a meeting held on Thursday and everyone is waiting for the T20 World Cup to end. There are chances that the announcement may be made a few days before depending on India’s performance in the tournament.
The Men in Blue have already qualified for the Super 8 stage of the tournament. India’s three Super 8 matches have been scheduled from June 20 onwards. The report also said that the BCCI has also agreed to Gautam Gambhir’s demand of getting his own support staff.
At present, Paras Mhambrey is India’s bowling coach, Vikram Rathour is working as the batting coach and T Dilip is involved as the fielding coach.
When Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri as India’s head coach back in 2021, he had retained Vikram Rathour as the batting coach. However, there were a few changes. Mahambrey replaced Bharat Arun, R Sridhar had to make way for Dilip.
While Gambhir may not have much experience in coaching at national level, he has a stellar IPL track record. For two years that he mentored young Lucknow Super Giants, the novice franchise made it to the IPL playoffs. This year, he mentored Kolkata Knight Riders. The Purple Army won the championship for the record third time.