Format specific teams: Gautam Gambhir's huge plans revealed for Indian cricket team's future

Gautam Gambhir has clear plans for India's cricket team in the future. Although his appointment as the team's head coach is not finalized yet, he is the frontrunner for the role after Rahul Dravid's tenure ends at the end of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Recently, Gambhir also appeared for the interview for the role of India's next head coach where he was interviewed by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), which involves former India cricketers Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape, and Sulakshana Naik.

Also read: Gautam Gambhir eats up Jonty Rhodes' LSG job even before becoming India's Head Coach

Gautam Gambhir's plans revealed for Indian cricket team's future

According to the TOI, a BCCI source has revealed that Gambhir wants specific players for different formats of the game. IPL will act as the platform for the selection of T20 players while senior players will be required for the longer formats.

"Gambhir is very clear in his mind that he will need players specific to each format. When it comes to T20 cricket, he is not one to overlook consistent IPL performers. The seniors in the team will be needed for the longer formats for the rest of the year," the BCCI source said.

The move to have specific teams for every format is likely to start from India's tour to Zimbabwe in the first week of July. Gambhir is likely to take over as head coach of the side which will see some fresh faces. This means that IPL performers like Riyan Parag, Yash Dayal, and Abhishek Sharma could get a look-in.

After the Zimbabwe tour, India are scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is. According to the reports, India are likely to field a full-strength ODI team.

Senior players to focus on the longer formats

It is believed that senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will move away from the shortest format of the game after the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 and instead focus on the WTC final and the Champions Trophy to be held next year.

Currently, India have a number of all-format cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav, who are in India's every full-strength squad irrespective of the formats. All these players are currently playing in the T20 World Cup 2024, which is jointly hosted by the West Indies and the USA.

India have qualified for the Super Eight stage after registering three wins against Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA. They will play their first Super Eight fixture against Afghanistan on June 20 in Barbados.

Historically, India haven't focused on having separate teams for different formats. But teams like England have used this idea to be more productive in every format of the game. England's specialist Test players like James Anderson and Stuart Broad played Test cricket for a long time despite being away from the white-ball teams.

If this happens in India, the workload of the current all-format will be managed in a better way. However, it remains to be seen how India will perform if BCCI opts for separate teams.