Gautam Gambhir has been appointed head coach of the Indian cricket team. With reverberations of their win at the T20 World Cup still echoing, Gambhir takes over the mantle as head coach. He has had very successful stints in the IPL and has been a two-time winner. Therefore, a lot will be expected of him to work the magic with this talented young team that has been assembled.
The hopes, therefore, rest with how best Gambhir can use available talent, says Jatin Paranjape, a former Indian cricketer, selector, and currently a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee.
“It depends on where the team is at the moment. Three years ago, we were ready to take on new challenges after beating Australia, and Rahul [Dravid] took the team forward from there. So, for the next few years, considering the ICC’s future tours program, how that bank of amazing talent is going to be handled by the new coach will be the key,” Jatin Paranjape told CricketNext.
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With the T20 World Cup 2024 coming to an end, it has definitely signalled a change in the Indian cricket team due to the veterans announcing their retirement from T20I cricket. It marks the end of an era, and Gautam Gambhir’s task will include finding new leaders in the future. A team capable of winning global tournaments will have to be built, and hence Gambhir’s prime task will be winning global events so that more legacy is embedded into Indian cricket.
It will also be Gambhir’s responsibility in his new role to manage the workload of key bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. Both these players have been vital to India’s bowling attack across all formats, but the question of their fitness and longevity remains pivotal.
Workload management will be important for the likes of Bumrah and Shami, Jatin Paranjape said. “How will they manage the workload for them so that they stay strong for majors like the 2027 ODI World Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup? The ideal candidate should be able to manage and strengthen the human capital of the team over their term,” he added.
Big challenges in front of Gambhir will be Bumrah, who was out of the game for almost a year due to a back injury, and Shami, who has not played since the 2023 ODI World Cup owing to heel surgery. Keeping these two key players fit and at their best form will be quite important for India in major tournaments ahead.
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More importantly, it will be about developing fresh talent like Arshdeep Singh; the young pacer was exceptional at the T20 World Cup and ended up as the joint-highest wicket-taker. He will have to bring these youngsters into other formats as well, consequently integrating them so that there is absolutely no disjointedness in performance in any competition.
Gambhir’s head coach tenure will start with the away series against Sri Lanka, comprising three games of T20I and ODI, from July 27. Effectively, this series is going to be a very early test of his strategies and skills at managing transition in the team as much as preparing them for future challenges.
