With Rahul Dravid's tenure as India head coach coming to an end after the T20 World Cup, a number of names were floated as potential replacements. The most prominent of these, however, was Dravid's former teammate and Kolkata Knight Rider mentor Gautam Gambhir. While many reports had suggested that Gambhir's appointment as head coach was all but confirmed, there had been no official word from the BCCI.
However, in a recent interaction with news agency ANI, the BCCI president more or less confirmed that Gambhir has been offered the job of India coach. During the interaction, Binny said it would be good for Indian cricket if Gambhir took the job, given his experience as an all-rounder.
"Gautam Gambhir has got a lot of experience and if he takes the job it's definitely going to be a good thing for Indian cricket. He is experienced that's what India needs. India needs a coach who played the game, and he has played in all three formats of the game," Binny told ANI.
Notably, Gambhir had previously admitted that he would love to coach the Indian cricket team, stating that there is ‘no bigger honour’. In an interaction with PTI, Gambhir had said,“I would love to coach the Indian team. There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team. You are representing 140 crore Indians and those across the globe as well,”
Earlier, it was reported that Gambhir had laid down five conditions for taking up the role of head coach, including complete autonomy over team selection and support staff, a separate team for Test cricket and the power to sack senior players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja if they don't perform in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Notably, Gambhir has no coaching experience. However, he has been a mentor for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
During his two-year stint with LSG, the Lucknow-based franchise reached the play-off stage both years. Meanwhile, in his role as mentor for KKR this year, he helped the franchise lift the IPL 2024 trophy after a gap of 10 years.
