'Who am I to tell Gambhir he can't touch one particular format?': Jay Shah's sizzling take on India's one coach stance

Following his success with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) success, Gautam Gambhir has started his tenure as Team India head coach with the task of following up on the highly succesfull tenure of Rahul Dravid in the role. Gambhir, who won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup, was appointed as the national team's head coach on July 9, 2024, replacing Dravid. Indian men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir during a training session.(PTI)

Dravid's tenure as India head coach ended after their victorious T20 World Cup campaign and he didn't apply for the job again due to personal reasons. It was already known that Dravid would be stepping down from his role after the T20 World Cup, and some even expected to see different head coaches for different formats.

But the BCCI decided to go with its tried-and-tested template, which involves one head coach for all three formats and appointed Gambhir.

Speaking to The Times of India, BCCI secretary Jay Shah explained the decision. He said, "We've to listen to the coach we recruit. Once we have selected Gautam Gambhir and if he is interested to coach in all three formats, who am I to say 'you can't coach a particular format'. More or less 70 per cent players are the same in all three formats."

India have back-ups for the head coach

Mentioning that India had enough back-ups for the head coach role, he added, "We have coaches from the NCA. When Rahul Dravid was taking a break, VVS Laxman used to step in."

Gambhir's coaching tenure with India began on July 27 as India began their tour of Sri Lanka with a three-match T20I series, which India won 3-0. The T20I series was followed by a three-match ODI series, which the hosts won 2-0.

The next assignment for Gambhir is the upcoming two-match Test series vs Bangladesh followed by three T20Is against them. The main focus this year, though, will be at the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, which will begin on November 22. The series has been expanded to five Test matches this year and India have held the trophy since 2017, having recorded series wins in Australia on their last two tours.

Other than the change in management, India have also seen a big change in T20Is, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retiring from that format. The BCCI has appointed Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain, snubbing Hardik Pandya.

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