Last Monday, Gautam Gambhir was named the new coach of the Indian cricket team. His first task will be to lead the squad in a bilateral series against Sri Lanka, which begins on July 27.
The former India opener batsman is having trouble choosing his supporting cast, though, as the BCCI isn’t taking into account much of his views. Initially, Gambhir had suggested Vinay Kumar and Laximipathy Balaji as his candidates for the role of bowling coach. But in the initial round of talks, the management rejected them, and according to the most recent rumors, Gambhir’s third suggestion was also withdrawn.
According to insiders, the BCCI has denied Gambhir’s desire to appoint renowned South Africa pacer Morne Morkel as the new bowling coach. During the ODI World Cup in India last year, Morkel coached Pakistan’s bowling attack. He also held the same position with the Lucknow Super Giants of the Indian Premier League.
Meanwhile, BCCI has turned down Gambhir’s ideas in more than one department besides bowling. The management rejected the names of former Netherlands cricket player Ryan ten Doeschate and Jonty Rhodes, which caused the head coach to struggle in choosing the fielding coach.
Abhishek Nayar is the only name that seems to be in a good position to join Gambhir’s support team. Nayar is an assistant coach for the Kolkata Knight Riders team and is probably going to continue in same role for the national team. Though it’s early, nothing is official, Nayar stands to gain greatly from his transformation of Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer.
The names suggested by Gambhir have worked with him in the past, either as a player or member of the coaching staff.
Why aren’t Gambhir’s requests being granted?
In the past, the management has largely granted coaches’ requests for its support personnel; however, this time, a different strategy has been used.
The sources also shed light on the board’s position and the reasons it has differed from earlier terms. According to a source, BCCI was communicating to Gambhir that, although being its preferred candidate for head coach, he would not be making the final decisions. Another school of thought maintained that this was just a reflection of how BCCI was now operating. It’s no secret that power is now concentrated in the hands of a few numbers of people, when choices were previously made mostly by committee and consensus,” the report continued.
It is highly likely that the present NCA coaching team will serve as Gambhir’s temporary support staff throughout the remaining days of his initial assignment, until the board and Gambhir reach a mutually agreeable resolution.