Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir© AFP
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to make major changes to Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir‘s support staff for the Test series against England, according to a report by Dainik Jagran. The report claimed that assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and fielding coach T Dilip can be removed from the team. The BCCI are reportedly not in favour of a huge support staff going forward and the decision will be taken at a high-profile meeting in Guwahati on March 29.
When Gambhir took over as head coach, Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar were hired as assistant coaches. While NCA and A team coach Sitanshu Kotak became the batting coach, former South Africa pacer Morne Morkel was roped in as the team’s bowling coach.
The staff does not end there as the team also has “three throwdown specialists, two massage therapists, a senior and a junior physiotherapist, a team doctor, a security and operations manager, a computer analyst, and a few logistical and media managers”.
While all of them were part of the Indian cricket team support staff during the Champions Trophy 2025 triumph, the BCCI is reportedly looking to trim it down and have a smaller coaching staff.
Some of India’s frontline players are likely to be part of the ‘A’ squad which will face the Lions in two four-day matches during the May-June window in preparation for the five-match Test series.
India will begin their 45-day trip to England with the first Test at Headingley on June 20, as they will attempt to win the first away series at the Old Blighty since 2007.
“The first four-day match will be hosted at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury from May 30. The second match is scheduled to begin a week later on June 6 at the County Ground in Northampton,” the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.
All the prominent Indian cricketers are contracted with their respective IPL franchises at the moment as the league’s knockouts will be played on May 20, 21 23 before the final on May 25.
(With PTI inputs)
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