Gautam Gambhir replaces Rahul Dravid as India’s head coach. Photo: BCCI
Key highlights
Gautam Gambhir is the current head coach of the Indian team and replaces Rahul Dravid. Gambhir will coach the Indian team till the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The BCCI’s search for a new head coach has ended with Gautam Gambhir, who replaced Rahul Dravid in July. The former India opener was named as a candidate after his successful stint leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2024. The Kolkata-based side had a dream run this season, winning the IPL trophy for the first time since 2014.
Following his success in the IPL, Gambhir has joined the national team as head coach. He will be guiding India across all three formats. India have never had separate coaches for each format before.
BCCI Secretary General Jay Shah spoke to The Times of India about multiple coaches and hinted that the Indian team may not have two coaches. He also revealed that Gambhir is interested in coaching the Indian team in all three formats.
“It depends on the coach we choose. Gautam Gambhir was interested in all the three formats. So, it’s not up to me to say to him that we will pick you only for this format. If you look at the team composition for Tests, T20s and ODIs, 70 per cent of the squad is almost the same. Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Akshar Patel, Jadeja… Before the T20 World Cup, we had Rohit and Virat. How will the players bond with different coaches,” the BCCI secretary general said.
Like Dravid, Gambhir has been given the right to choose his coach. For the Sri Lanka tour, he has brought in Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Douchate as assistant coaches. Their full-time appointments will be announced soon. They worked under Gambhir at KKR in IPL 2024.
Morne Morkel has joined the Indian team as bowling coach. He played under Gambhir from IPL 2014 to 2016. Morkel worked under ‘mentor’ Gambhir at Lucknow Supergiants in IPL 2022 and 2023. Only fielding coach T Dilip has been retained from Dravid’s coaching staff.