For a long time, there were speculations on whether Gautam Gambhir would be appointed the next head coach of the Indian team, with the end of tenure for Rahul Dravid, after the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, where the national side celebrated their second title in the format, since winning it in the inaugural season 17-year-back.
But as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approved the news, the question started to grow if Gautam Gambhir could provide the same success to the national team as he has done to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), both as a captain and mentor.
The former opening batter of India wasn’t with the Indian team in Zimbabwe for the five-match T20I series, as VVS Laxman played the acting coach role, with Gambhir’s first assignment will be the upcoming white-ball series in Sri Lanka.
‘If Gautam Gambhir is taking up that post…’- Kapil Dev
Till now, the appointment of Gautam Gambhir has only received positive vibes from the former players and the fans, as everyone has rated him the best candidate for the role. The former India captain, Kapil Dev, didn’t comment much on the new head coach, before wishing him and the team good luck for the future.
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‘If Gautam Gambhir is taking up that post (the head coach role of the Indian cricket team), I wish good luck to him and the team. I hope they do better than what we have done previously. I want to wish the Indian players all the best.’ The world-cup-winning captain told PTI during the second edition of the Trinity Golf Champions League in New Delhi.
Gautam Gambhir has already made his suggestion to the selection committee, about the choice of players he wants to have in his side, before the final announcement of India’s squad for the Sri Lanka trip on Thursday evening.
Kapil Dev was also the coach of the Indian team from the period between September 1999 for about a year. But he didn’t enjoy much success in the position, as the Indian team had a very poor tour to Australia, getting whitewashed, before winning just one of the 14 games. They also lost to the touring South Africa side by 2-0, which was their first home Test series defeat in 12 years.
Later, he returned to the team as the bowling coach of India for their tour to Pakistan in 2004.
Gautam Gambhir, however, has some big shoes to fill. The first biggest challenge for him will be managing the senior members of the side, besides helping the team make a smooth transition as they move towards the future. One of the ways he could do it would be by being crystal clear about his preferred players.
The first biggest assignment for Gautam will be the upcoming edition of the Champions Trophy 2025 before they host the next edition of the Men’s T20 World Cup. India tried to make the World Test Champions on the first two occasions but failed to taste success. If they go on to reach that stage, the aim will be to lift that trophy.
In December this year, India’s tour for the five-match Test series against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar trophy will be another huge challenge. Having won on the last two occasions, the expectations will be quite high from the team.
Gautam Gambhir, as the reports suggest, has already voted towards making Suryakumar Yadav the new T20I captain of India, with the retirement of Rohit Sharma from the shortest format of the game. It will be interesting to see how these decisions shape up in the future.