Gautam Gambhir set to replace Rahul Dravid as India head coach: report

The wait for Indian cricket to find out who would be Rahul Dravid’s successor as coach of the men’s team is likely to be over soon, with Gautam Gambhir reportedly ready to take on the responsibility. Gambhir’s name has been doing the rounds across the Indian cricket spectrum, with his impressive stint mentoring the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 franchise seeing his shares soar. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also appeared to be interested in a number of Australian big names, as well as other IPL coaches like Stephen Fleming and Andy Flower, for the role of head coach of the Indian team, but it is Gambhir which seems to be ahead of the rest.

Gambhir’s name began to be discussed when KKR performed emphatically in the league stage of IPL 2024, finishing as the number 1 team. A few games later, the Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final to take home the title. After the final, Gambhir also had a long conversation with BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Although the content of the chat is not known, the visas have fueled speculation.

According to a report in India today, Gambhir is now set to replace Dravid as the head coach of Team India. Although Gambhir recently took on the role of mentor at KKR from his job at Lucknow Super Giants, another IPL team which he joined as a member of the coaching staff in 2022.

Although the former India opener has no experience coaching a national team, or even the IPL, his role in leading KKR to an IPL triumph this year was reportedly enough for the BCCI to seriously consider his name as Dravid’s successor.

The BCCI invited applications for the post of head coach by May 27 and reportedly received more than 3,000 applications, including some fake ‘Sachin Tendulkars’, ‘Narendra Modis’ and ‘Amit Shahs’. The board will likely begin the process of interviewing the shortlisted candidates soon, with the Cricket Advisory Committee leading this task.