Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir emerges as the top contender for the role of head coach of the Indian men’s senior team once Rahul Dravid completes his tenure after the T20 World Cup 2024.
Joining Gambhir in contention is former cricketer WV Raman, who has been shortlisted as a potential candidate for the upcoming head coach position of the Indian team. The BCCI found his recent presentation compelling.
In terms of background, Gautam Gambhir has served as a mentor for IPL teams such as Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders. His influence was instrumental in guiding KKR to their third IPL win during his inaugural season as mentor.
On the other hand, WV Raman brings extensive coaching expertise spanning from domestic cricket to the IPL and coaching the women’s national team.
“The Indian cricket board must look at utilising the services of both Raman and Gambhir. There are numerous ways in which one can do that – say have Gambhir as head coach and Raman as batting coach or allow Raman to have more say in red ball. Lot of ways one can use them because both can benefit Indian cricket and that’s what one should look at,” a source in the know was quoted as saying by News18.
“Raman has seen these youngsters grow from close quarters when he filled in as coach during different U-19 and A series. He can be your right guy to handhold these players as the side is set to undergo a massive transition in the next couple of years. That is likely to begin in T20s after the World Cup and ODIs, Tests will witness that too in the next 12-15 months,” the source added.
The BCCI will announce the next head coach in the final week of June. It will be interesting to see whether they choose one of them or opt to utilize the combined experience of both, assigning them different roles together.