The Gambhir era begins

 New Era for Indian team under Gambhir?

As announced by Jay Shah, Gautam Gambhir will start his tenure as a head coach of Indian team from the Sri Lanka tour (3 t20i's and 3 odi's). With Gambhir joining the team, India will look more strong. Hoping for atleast 2 ICC trophies under his tenure (till odi wc 2027). He had an exceptional IPL this year (as a mentor) as kkr won their 3rd IPL title this year. Also, Gambhir coached Lucknow Super Giants for 2 years before becoming the mentor of KKR, and he was successful in it as LSG qualified for the playoffs in both the season. When he left LSG (this year), they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Gambhir knows how to manage teams effectively, he chose team based on performance and conditions, he isn't  scared to drop some players if they are not suitable for the conditions (he dropped Nitish Rana to let Raghuvanshi play in IPL 2024). That's the reason he was chosen before WV Raman, who also has a great coaching record. 

What about the other coaching staff?

As of now, the other coaching members are not confirmed yet but according to some reports the very likely coaching members will be:

Batting coach: Abhishek Nayar

Bowling coach: Zaheer Khan

Fielding coach: T Dilip

T20i captain: Hardik Pandya

Odi and Test captain: Rohit Sharma

Is Abhishek Nayar good enough to take charge of team India?

A former left hand batter and right arm medium bowler Abhishek Nayar has a great international experience. He has been part of LSG and KKR's coaching staff. Gambhir and Abhishek was part of KKR who won IPL 2024. I personally feel that Abhishek and Gambhir duo will be lethal for the opposition as they have experience of working together. 

Who will replace Paras Mhambrey?

There were some reports that Vinay Kumar the former Indian right arm pacer might take the charge but its not confirmed yet. There were also mention of Zaheer khan and Balaji to take over. So basically these 3 seems to be the front runners. I personally feel that Zaheer khan would be helpful for team India as he has a great experience in coaching with Mumbai Indians. Few years ago, there were some videos of him guiding a young pace bowler to improve his landing while bowling. Also, Khaleel Ahmed getting a place in Zimbabwe is suggesting that India is looking to keep a left arm pacer in team as a replacement option for Arshdeep Singh. So Zaheer Khan a former left arm pacer would provide guidance to the young Indian team coming up (especially t20i side). 

Can T Dilip retain his spot as a fielding coach of India?

If the reports are to be believed, Gambhir demanded Jonty Rhodes for the fielding coach spot but today morning I saw a post on X (formerly twitter), that Gambhir is happy with what Dilip sir has done. So there are quite a high chance that Dilip sir may retain in his spot for the exceptional work he did for Indian team in past few years.

Who will be the permanent captain of team India?

Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja have already announced their retirement just after wining the t20 world cup, so who will take over the captaincy now? I have 3 names in my mind Hardik, Surya and Bumrah. These 3 players are the front runners to get the captaincy. Hardik Pandya was the Vice Captain in the world cup so technically, he will take over the captaincy. However, we can't neglect the fact that Gambhir likes to make changes, he might choose someone out of box. For now, Hardik is the one who is most likely to be given permanent captaincy of t20i's. Rohit will keep leading Odi's and test matches.

To conclude, I would like to say there are a lot of expectations from Gambhir as a head coach. We as fans hope that this new era brings more joy and pride to the country. And lastly, a huge thanks for former coaching staff for serving the best, they did everything to get that world cup.

Thank you, 

Advait Kadam

(Sports Management Student)