Gautam Gambhir was announced as the Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team by the Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI), which is the apex body of cricket in India on 9th July 2024.
The former legendary batter of India has won 2 ICC titles for India; the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and the ICC ODI World Cup 2011. Gambhir played two match-winning knocks of 75 runs and 97 runs in the two respective finals.
Now as per a report in Hindustan Times, Indian legendary batter Virat Kohli wasn’t consulted before the Head Coach appointment of the Indian cricket team. Notably, Kohli and Gambhir have always shared a feisty relationship, visible on the cricket field itself.
Be it the post-match fiasco on 1st May 2023 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) or the fight between them on the field on 11th April 2013, Gambhir and Kohli always shared a bad bond between them.
But often what meets the eye, isn’t the reality. When RCB came for an away game at Eden Gardens, Kolkata in 2024 versus Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the duo were seen sharing a good bond at the pitch, a day before the game.
Gambhir’s name as the Head Coach of India was unanimously endorsed by the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) consisting of Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape, and Sulakshana Naik. Gambhir and former batter WV Raman were the only candidates to show up for the interview for the role of head coach for India.
Hardik Pandya was kept in the loop as he is likely to take over the captaincy reigns from Rohit Sharma in the T20I format. Notably, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had called it quits from the shortest international format post the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 win of India.
Ace Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has played 74 T20Is for India, has retired from this format as well.
Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as the Head Coach of India will be the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka post the Zimbabwe tour. India play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs in Sri Lanka, starting from 28th July 2024.
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