Reports round-up: Who can be in Gautam Gambhir's support staff and who can't?
New India head coach Gautam Gambhir has been given the freedom to pick his support staff - a trend that was followed by the BCCI even with his predecessors, which included Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid.
Since the tenure of the existing support staff concluded with the tenure of Rahul Dravid, the BCCI is working to hasten the appointment of the new team. Gambhir is expected to take charge of the team from the tour of Sri Lanka slated to be held later this month.
Now, as is the norm with Indian cricket, there are plenty of names doing the rounds for different posts. As per reports, the BCCI wants an all-Indian coaching staff, few names are still being tossed around.
Abhishek Nayar is a certainty
Abhishek Nayar has been a longstanding member of the Kolkata Knight Riders and is perhaps the only name who will definitely be a part of Gautam Gambhir’s support staff.
Gambhir's choice of Nayar, a former Indian all-rounder who played three ODIs in 2009, is not very surprising since the duo share a very strong professional relationship. Gambhir wanted a coach that was dedicated to the cause and he has seen the work ethic of Nayar very closely.
The former Mumbai all-rounder shares a close relationship with Rohit Sharma and could well be given the role of an assistant coach in this new team.
Who will be the bowling coach?
Different reports suggest that Gautam Gambhir is considering candidates such as Lakshmipathy Balaji and Vinay Kumar, both of whom have been associated with Gambhir at KKR for this role. However, the BCCI wants a more high-profile name to mentor young players and hence, other names are also being discussed.
Morne Morkel, the former South African pacer, is also in the mix. Morkel was the bowling coach of Pakistan during last year’s Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup. The pacer had a very impressive international career where he played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs, and 44 T20Is in a career that spanned from 2006 to 2018.
Both Gambhir and Morkel shared a good working relationship at the Lucknow Super Giants IPL team for two years. Considering the fact that the South African retired only in 2018, he understands the dynamics of the modern game and could well be given this role. However, the only stumbling block here would be the fact that the BCCI wants an Indian to take up this role.
Another report has suggested that former India pacer Zaheer Khan could well be a surprise inclusion for the role.
Fielding Coach
The newly appointed India head coach is also very keen to include Ryan ten Doeschate in his support staff. The final decision is with the board, which favors Indian personnel in coaching roles.
Gautam Gambhir wanted autonomy in team management and hence, has passed on his wish to include the 44-year-old former Dutch international as part of his support team. Ten Doeschate collaborated with Gambhir at the Kolkata Knight Riders - he was their fielding coach in their IPL-winning 2024 season.
He also holds different roles within KKR's affiliates in the Caribbean Premier League, Major League Cricket, and ILT20.
Both Ten Doeschate and Gautam Gambhir shared a very strong relationship even during their playing days when they were part of KKR. The BCCI is quite keen to carry on with T Dilip, a member of Rahul Dravid's outgoing staff, as the fielding coach. If this does transpire, a new role or a new working title could be given to ten Doeschate to accommodate him in the support staff.
Few reports also suggest that the BCCI has already turned down Gambhir’s suggestion to include Jonty Rhodes as the fielding coach and it will be interesting to see if there is enough elbow room for Gambhir to get his choices of personnel.