New Delhi: Team India’s newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday confirmed the members of his support staff in his first press conference before the squad departed for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Gambhir confirmed Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate as the assistant coaches while clarifying that T Dilip will continue as India’s fielding coach for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka.
Gambhir’s first assignment as the head coach will be the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka which gets underway from July 27. The tour consists of three T20Is and three ODIs. While Dilip is the only coach retained by the BCCI from former coach Rahul Dravid’s coaching staff, Nayar and Ten Doeschate worked with Gambhir for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2024.
Gambhir was the mentor of KKR while Nayar and Ten Doeschate worked as assistant coaches for KKR. The trio played a key role in helping the franchise win their third title in IPL 2024. While confirming their names for the assistant coach role, Gambhir wished Nayar and Ten Doeschate all the best and hoped the duo would enjoy a successful stint with Team India.
“This is going to be the crux of the support staff. As I said, we still have one month after the Sri Lanka tour. We will try and finalise after the Sri Lanka tour. But, I have worked with people like Abhishek Nayar, Ryan Ten Doeschate very closely. In the last two months, especially in the IPL, I have enjoyed working with them. They are thorough professionals. Hope Ryan and Abhishek can have a successful stint,” Gambhir said in the pre-departure press conference.
Apart from Nayar, Ten Doeschate and Dilip, Gambhir also confirmed that Sairaj Bahutule will serve as the interim bowling coach for Team India on their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka consisting of six matches. Bahutule was working with players at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru under VVS Laxman and has earned good rapport for his work.
Here is the full list of Gautam Gambhir’s support staff for India tour of Sri Lanka:
Abhishek Nayar – Assistant coach
Ryan ten Doeschate – Assistant coach
Sairaj Bahutule – Bowling coach
T Dilip – Fielding coach
Will Morne Morkel join as India’s bowling coach?
Gambhir has reportedly endorsed former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel for the role of India’s bowling coach. However, his appointment has not been finalised yet. The former Proteas pacer, who enjoyed a distinguished international career, recently worked as the bowling coach of the Pakistan national team.
Morkel has also worked as a bowling coach for a few IPL teams and was part of the KKR squad under Gambhir’s captaincy. It remains to be seen if Morkel will join the Indian team as their bowling coach after the Sri Lanka tour. Gambhir thanked the BCCI for accepting the majority of his demands as far as his support staff was concerned while also stating that the exact support staff team will be confirmed after the Sri Lanka tour.
“Really happy with the BCCI. They have agreed to most of the things I have asked for. I was really surprised when I was reading all that news. Abhishek, as assistant coach, Ryan, as assistant coach. I personally feel there could be assistant coaches working and focussing on all three departments than one specific department. That’s the reason we now have two assistant coaches. That’s the way we will go forward as well. Yes, we will get to know the exact support staff after the Sri Lanka tour,” said Gambhir.
Team India’s new head coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday confirmed the appointment of Abhishek Nayar and Ryan Ten Doeschate as assistant coaches ahead of the team’s tour of Sri Lanka. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
