Gambhir was interviewed for the coach of Team India: Met the Cricket Advisory Committee, earlier he had said- It is an honour to be an Indian coach

IPL 2024 champion Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir has interviewed for the post of Team India’s head coach. ESPN Cricinfo reported that Gambhir met the members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) on Tuesday.

This committee includes former cricketers like Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Nayak. It is not yet clear how many applications BCCI has received for this post. The last date for submitting applications was 27 May.

BCCI has been looking for a coach for the Indian team for a long time, as the tenure of the current head coach of the team, Rahul Dravid, is ending after the T20 World Cup.

Gambhir had said- It is an honour to be the coach of Team India

Recently, while answering a child’s question in a private program in Abu Dhabi, Gambhir had said that it is an honour to become the coach of Team India. I would love to become the coach of the Indian team. There is no greater honour than coaching your national team.

He had said that- When you represent the Indian team, you are in the eyes of more than 140 crore Indians across the world. What can be a bigger moment than this for anyone. It is not me who will help India win the World Cup, it is 140 crore Indians who will help India win the World Cup. If everyone starts praying for us and we start playing with all our hard work.

In a program in Abu Dhabi, Gambhir said- I would like to become the coach of the Indian team.

Gambhir won 2 World Cups as a player and 2 IPLs as a captain, he also won the trophy as a mentor
42-year-old Gambhir was the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2022 and 2023. He joined KKR in the 2024 season. Gambhir led the team to the playoffs in the first two seasons while at LSG. At the same time, in season 2024, KKR won the IPL trophy under Gambhir’s mentorship.

As a player, Gambhir was part of India’s T20 World Cup winning team in 2007 and ODI World Cup in 2011. He captained KKR for seven IPL seasons from 2011 to 2017. He also qualified for the playoffs five times. As a captain, he won two titles in the years 2012 and 2014. However, he has no coaching experience at the international or domestic level. He has been in charge of the coaching staff in two IPL franchises.

4 things related to the coaching of Team India

1. Many names discussed with Gambhir since IPL days
There have been speculations about Gautam Gambhir becoming the coach of the Indian team since the time of IPL. Apart from Gambhir, there were also talks about former Australian captains Ricky Ponting, Justin Langer and Stephen Fleming becoming the Indian coach. According to BCCI rules, if Gambhir becomes the head coach of the team, he will have to leave the mentorship of KKR.

2. The tenure of the new coach will last till 2027
The new head coach will be selected during the T20 World Cup. His tenure will start from 1 July 2024 and will last till 31 December 2027. During this time, Team India has to play 5 ICC tournaments. These include the Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup along with 2 cycles of the World Test Championship.

3. Dravidian Became head coach in 2021
BCCI appointed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of India in November 2021. Then Team India was eliminated from the group stage of the T20 World Cup. The team reached the semi-finals in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Dravid’s tenure ended after the ODI World Cup in 2023, but due to Team India reaching the final, his tenure was extended till the T20 World Cup.