Ex-India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir is the first choice of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to serve as head coach of the Indian men’s team when Rahul Dravid gets off the job after the end of the ICC T20 World Cup in June 2024. According to ESPNcricinfo, Gambhir, who is already the mentor of KKR in the IPL has been asked by BCCI to know his interest in the role, and further talks are expected when KKR completes their IPL 2024 campaign. Nevertheless, the date for applying for the India head coach job is May 27, which is a day after the IPL final.
Dravid, as it is learned from the sources, has informed BCCI that he is not going to seek another term. VVS Laxman, who was supposed to take the baton from Dravid last year was absent from the side for personal reasons.
Gambhir, 42, is yet to coach an international or a domestic team, but he has gained experience while being in charge of coaching staffs at two IPL franchises. He was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022 and 2023, under which they reached the playoffs in both years. In the 2024 season, he will join KKR and will finish the league stage of the tournament at the top of the points table. The Gambhir was persuaded to mentor the team of KKR by the team principal Khan.
Gambhir was the part of India’s T20 World Cup victory in 2007 and ODI World Cup victory of 2011. He led KKR for seven IPL seasons from 2011 to 2017 and they qualified for the playoffs five times, and won two titles under his influence in 2012 and 2014. They also made it to the final of the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014.
As an appointment of a new coach was to begin in the next two years, it was after the 2021 T20 World Cup that Dravid had taken charge as the coach of India. It was said in the beginning that he would be finishing his role after the ODI World Cup in November 2023, but he concluded the deal after the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the US in June 2024.
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