After facing rejections, Gautam Gambhir offered 'stop-gap bowling coach' for Sri Lanka series by BCCI

The formal meetings and all the paperwork have been done and now it's time for the Gautam Gambhir era as head coach in Indian cricket. The former India captain has taken charge of the team and will be seen in action from next week in the National colors.

India team is all set to tour Sri Lanka National Cricket Team for the white-ball series next week. The series will mark the first assignment for Gautam Gambhir as the head coach of the team. He was recently appointed for the role after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended following the T20 World Cup 2024.

Gautam Gambhir reportedly kept a condition for the BCCI before joining Team India. The former India skipper had mentioned that he would be selecting his support staff himself and stated that he needs full control of the team without any involvement from outsiders.

Gautam Gambhir was supposed to finalize his support staff before July 22. The India head coach gave five names and they were reportedly rejected by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Only Abhishek Nayar was accepted and he is expected to be the assistant coach for the team in the upcoming tour.

With Gautam Gambhir running against the time to pick the support staff, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) reportedly has offered him a stop-gap solution for the tour of Sri Lanka. The governing body has told the head coach that they can assign former Australian and NCA coach Troy Cooley as a stop-gap bowling coach for the Sri Lanka tour, as per a report in HT.

Even before joining the Team, Gautam Gambhir made his presence felt as he made some harsh decisions with the team announcement. Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as the T20I captain of the team over Hardik Pandya, who was vice-captain during the T20 World Cup 2024. And on the other hand squads of both teams raised quite a few eyeballs.

The seniors in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be playing in the ODIs. The ODI series will mark the preparations for Team India for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. The tournament will be played in February-March next year in Pakistan and Men in Blue would've their eyes set in for that.

Also, Shubman Gill was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team in both T20Is and ODIs. It came as a surprise because he was preferred over KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya. His appointment also depicts the long-term captaincy plan of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

India to leave for Sri Lanka on 22nd July

India National Cricket Team will be leaving for Sri Lanka on 22nd July. Ahead of the departure of the team, newly appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir will be attending the press conference on Monday. This would be his first media interaction after joining the Team as the head coach.

The India tour to Sri Lanka will begin with a three-match T20I series. The series will start from 27th July before the ODIs are slated to take place from August 2 in Colombo. Gautam Gambhir would be keen to start his tenure as head coach of Team India on high.