The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has rejected most of the choices of new head coach Gautam Gambhir for the support staff and approved only one. According to sources, the only name from Gambhir’s suggestions that was accepted by the Indian cricket board was Abhishek Nayar for the role of batting coach.

Gambhir had nominated South African pacer Morne Morkel and former India bowler Lakshmipathy Balaji for the position of bowling coach. For the role of fielding coach, he suggested Dutchman Ryan ten Doeschate and South African Jonty Rhodes.

However, the BCCI is reportedly leaning towards appointing former India pacer Zaheer Khan as the bowling coach, while T Dilip, who served as the fielding coach under Rahul Dravid, remains the preferred choice for the role of fielding coach. This approach differs from that of previous coaches like Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, both of whom had the support staff of their choice.

Gambhir took over from Rahul Dravid after India’s T20 World Cup triumph. The former Indian season-opener brings coaching experience from the IPL, where he led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in the 2024 season as a mentor. His first assignment as head coach will be the tour of Sri Lanka, where India will play three T20Is on July 27, 28 and 30, followed by three ODIs on August 2, 4 and 7.

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Meanwhile, BCCI has announced the India Squad for Sri Lanka tour and Suryakumar Yadav has been named captain in the T20Is. Interestingly, Shubman Gill has been announced as vice captain in both the T20Is and ODIs. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will play in the ODI series. Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Kuldeep Yadav have been dropped from the T20Is despite performing well in the past.

Reports are coming out that Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI career is over and he will not be considered for selection in the upcoming series and tournaments. Riyan Parag has been named in both the ODI and T20I squads despite struggling on the Zimbabwe tour. There are many surprises in the announced squads and most of them could be associated with Gautam Gambhir.