BCCI rejects most of Gautam Gambhir’s support staff suggestions

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has dismissed nearly all of the new head coach Gautam Gambhir's proposed support staff choices, with only one exception. 

According to the media reports, the Indian cricket board only approved Abhishek Nayar for the role of batting coach.

Gambhir had recommended several prominent figures for various roles, including South African pacer Morne Morkel and former India bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji for the bowling coach position. For the fielding coach, he suggested Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate and South African Jonty Rhodes.

However, the BCCI has preferred former India pacer Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach. T Dilip, who served as the fielding coach under Rahul Dravid, remains their top choice for the same role.

This decision marks a departure from the board's approach during the tenures of previous coaches Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, both of whom had the support staff of their choosing.

Gambhir, who succeeded Dravid after India's T20 World Cup victory, brings extensive coaching experience from the IPL, where he led the Kolkata Knight Riders to a title in the 2024 season as a mentor. 

His first assignment as head coach will be the tour of Sri Lanka, where India is scheduled to play three T20Is on July 27, 28, and 30, followed by three ODIs on August 2, 4, and 7.

Additionally, India is on the lookout for a new T20I captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format after the T20 World Cup win. Suryakumar Yadav is expected to be named the new T20I skipper over Hardik Pandya for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka. 

Yadav previously captained India during their 4-1 T20I series win against Australia and the 1-1 series draw against South Africa post the ODI World Cup 2023.