The reports suggest that the former India opener Gautam Gambhir has been ahead in the race to replace Rahul Dravid for the India men’s cricket team’s new head coach, as Dravid will step down from his position, as the end of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
There was also news that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already finalized the deal with Gautam Gambhir, with the final announcement expected to happen a week later, after the end of India’s campaign from the tournament.
But as the interviews have been done, a new competition has arrived for Gambhir’s competitor in the position in the form of veteran WV Raman, who too was interviewed by the cricket board’s Advisory Committee (CAC).
Reports suggest Gautam Gambhir as head coach and WV Raman as batting coach for India
The former India batter, Gautam Gambhir was part of India’s two world cup winning teams, in 2007 and 2011, in both of those two occasions, he played a great role for the team in helping the team lift the trophy.
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When it comes to his character, the Delhi-player is quite strong mentally, and crystal clear with his decisions, about the senior and young players, both on and off the field. The aggressive mindset from the game also allows the team to come up with better plans and preparations for the opponents.
When he was captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise went on to win two titles in 2012 and 2014. Since he left the team, there was dryness in the trophy cabinet, as the purple side reached the final only in the 2021 season, where they lost the final against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Dubai.
Even coaching for the Lucknow Super Giants during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he helped the team to reach the playoffs, while after he left the side, they finished outside the top four in the 17th season of the tournament.
Gautam Gambhir came back to his den Kolkata, and suddenly the environment of the franchise changed, with the players looking to take on responsibility and begin to play as a team. The unity among the side was quite strong, as they went on to secure their third IPL title under Gambhir’s mentorship, getting the better of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final of the league in Chennai.
On the flip of the coin, there is WV Raman, who will come into the scene with huge experience. The opening batter featured in 38 International games for India, managing over 1000 runs with one ODI century and seven half-centuries across the two formats. However, when it comes to his first-class record for Tamil Nadu, the opening batter smashed 7939 runs in 132 games at an average of 45.62, with 19 centuries.
After retirement, Raman coached TN and Bengal in the domestic circuit before moving to the IPL, where he served as the assistant coach of the Punjab franchises in 2013, and batter as the batting coach of the Knight Riders.
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The 59-year-old has also been the coach of the India Women’s team between 2018 and 2021, where he earned so much success. A final report on News18 also suggested that given both the interviews being quite impressive, BCCI could look to sign both of them.
‘The Indian cricket board must look at utilizing the services of both Raman and Gambhir. There are numerous ways in which one can do that say have Gambhir as head coach and Raman as batting coach or allow Raman to have more say in red ball. Lot of ways one can use them because both can benefit Indian cricket and that’s what one should look at.’ The report claims.
The three CAC members- Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe, and Sulakshana Naik will have the task of choosing one between WV Raman and Gautam Gambhir, and it will be interesting to see with whom they go.