Gautam Gambhir to pick his own support staff as BCCI set to announce next India head coach by end of June: Report

With Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach of the Indian men's cricket team set to end after the 2024 T20 World Cup, where the side has qualified for the Super Eight round after an unbeaten run in the group stage, Gautam Gambhir is set to be officially announced as his replacement by the end of June, according to a new report. It further adds that Gambhir, who will be signing a contract with the BCCI until the end of the 2027 ODI World Cup, will pick his own support staff members.

The discussions on who will replace Dravid as India's next head coach largely settled down late last month after reports clearly hinted at Gambhir's appointment for the role. The former World Cup winner, who has been instrumental in guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to their third IPL title win this season as a mentor, was spotted having a lengthy chat with BCCI secretary Jay Shah on the sidelines of the league final in Chennai last month.

Although there was a dilemma that Gambhir faced, having only returned to KKR before the start of 2024 on the insistence of franchise co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, who reportedly wanted him to take over the reins for the next 10 years, the former India opener seemed rather keen on taking up the India role.

On Sunday, a report in Dainik Jagran hinted that Gambhir and the board has already had a discussion over his announcement date, as revealed by a BCCI source, which largely depends on India's campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup. Gambhir further informed the board that he would want to pick his own set of support staff members. Currently, Vikram Rathour is the batting coach, Paras Mhambrey is the bowling coach and T Dilip is the fielding coach.

Notably, When Shastri was named head coach, Rathour replaced Sanjay Bangar as the batting coach. When Dravid succeeded Shastri, Rathour retained his role, but Mhambrey and Dilip were picked only at his request for their respective roles. After Gambhir assumes the role of coach, Indian team will witness a significant change in the support staff unit, including the potential replacement of Rathour, Mhambrey, and Dilip.