The secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Jay Shah has revealed that the new India head coach will join the team from their upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka. At the moment, VVS Laxman will take over the coaching role for their upcoming five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe.
After India’s second T20 World Cup win, under Rohit Sharma, since 2007 when they won the inaugural edition of the tournament, the period for the current head coach, Rahul Dravid of the Indian team has finished.
Even though the identity of the new head coach hasn’t been expressed by Jay Shah, it’s widely expected to be Gautam Gambhir, who helped the Kolkata Knight Riders to become the champions under his mentorship, for the third time in the history of the tournament.
‘From Rohit to Virat, all excelled’- Jay Shah
The BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has announced that the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) has already taken an interview of two candidates, and once they reach Mumbai, they will make the declaration.
‘Both coach and selector appointments will be made shortly.’ Jay Shah was quoted to PTI. ‘CAC has interviewed and shortlisted two names and after reaching Mumbai whatever they have decided we will go by that. VVS Laxman is going to Zimbabwe but a new coach will join from the Sri Lanka series.’
The two players who have been shortlisted by the committee are expected to be the former India players- Gautam Gambhir and WV Raman, the latter has the experience of being part of many IPL franchises.
Jay Shah is currently in the West Indies and has praised every single member of the India team, for their success in this T20 World Cup win. He lauded key players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who also showed great character in captaining the side.
Kohli was going through a struggling time at the start of the T20 World Cup where he could smash only 75 runs in the first seven innings, but when it mattered the most, the team found themselves under tremendous pressure with three down in the first four overs, Kohli stood tall for his 76-run knock, win the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
‘It was the same captain last year and here in Barbados. We won all the games except the final in 2024 as Australia played better.’ Jay Shah commented. ‘This time we worked even harder and played better to win the title. If you look at other teams, experience counts.
Rohit, on the other hand, was aggressive at the start of the competition, where he went after the bowlers from the very first over, and ended the tournament with 257 runs in eight innings at an average of 36.71, and a strike rate of 156.70, with three half-centuries, including that 92-run knock in 41 balls against Australia, that increased the belief in the side.
‘From Rohit to Virat, all excelled. Experience makes a lot of difference, in World Cups, you can’t experiment much also.’ Jay Shah expressed as both Kohli and Rohit take T20I retirement along with Ravindra Jadeja. ‘A good player knows when to say goodbye to the game, we saw that yesterday. You look at Rohit’s strike rate, it’s better than a lot of young players.’
Hardik Pandya is expected to be the next T20I captain for India, as Shah feels that the leadership decisions will be confirmed after discussion with the selectors.
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‘Captaincy will be decided by the selectors and we will announce it after discussing with them. You asked about Hardik, there were a lot of questions over his form, but we and the selectors showed faith in him and he proved himself.’ Jay Shah reflected.
The veteran remarks on how the transition for the team has already happened, before revealing their next target.
‘The way our team is progressing, our target is to win the World Test Championship final and the Champions Trophy. There will be a similar squad playing there. The seniors will be there.’ Jay Shah concluded.