Gautam Gambhir confirmed as India Head Coach as all former players reject BCCI's offer

Former opening batter Gautam Gambhir is all set to appear before a Zoom call with the BCCI authorities for the head coaching job of the Indian team.

Ever since the BCCI had invited candidates for one of the most exclusive jobs in the cricket world, Gautam Gambhir came up as the most realistic option. The 42-year-old, who has been a 2-time IPL winning captain with KKR, is rumoured to be officially announced as Rahul Dravid's successor by the end of this month (June).

Regardless of whether India wins the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup or not, Rahul Dravid and his entourage will be stepping down after a tenure of 2.5 years. Dravid had succeeded Ravi Shastri and if the rumours are all but true, then Gautam Gambhir will be wearing the Indian national jersey very soon.

The expectations around him, that he is the one to lead the Indians to their first ICC trophy since 2013, increased after he helped KKR win their 3rd IPL. Gautam Gambhir would join the Knight Riders as their Mentor after a mutual termination of his LSG contract before the 2024 auction in December last year.

Jay Shah, the Honorary Secretary of the BCCI, is reportedly keen on bringing Gautam Gambhir on board and the latest report has made it even likelier.

Gautam Gambhir was the only one to apply for the India head coaching job

During the early hours of Tuesday, a report emerged that said that Gautam Gambhir was the only former cricketer to apply for the head coaching job. If not so, then Gambhir is at least the only relevant applicant to fill up the Google form that the BCCI had put out last month. It had a deadline of May 27, the day after IPL 2024 final.

Many reports were claiming that Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Stephen Fleming, were all approached to be India's next head coach. But all of them had later denied publicly doing so before Jay Shah cleared all the rumours himself, confirming that the board would not hire any foreigner.

With that Gautam Gambhir's chances of taking up the challenge increased even more. The same report which claimed Gambhir was the only one to apply, has also revealed that the 2011 WC winner will appear before a Zoom call very soon. He will be in front of the Cricket Advisory Committee's officials who will recommend him to the BCCI.

Selector from the North Zone to be decided as well

Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik, the Advisors for BCCI, will also be interviewing candidates for the North Zone's Selector. The current selection committee comprises of Ajit Agarkar and Salil Ankola, both of whom are from the West Zone. Ankola has been a part of the 5-man team since Chetan Sharma's days and he will be replaced by the new North Zone selector.

Another report claimed yesterday that Jonty Rhodes is to take over as the fielding coach of team India and be a part of Gautam Gambhir's coaching staff.