India's next bowling coach 'Zaheer Khan Or...': Gautam Gambhir and BCCI sent a clear message

Stock photo of Gautam Gambhir©AFP

Amid the Indian cricket team’s coaching job interview, where the names of Gautam Gambhir and WV Raman cropped up, a question also arises about the support staff. According to reports, Gambhir has given carte blanche to the BCCI to choose its own support staff. Currently, under coach Rahul Dravid, Vikram Rathour is the batting coach, Paras Mhambrey is the bowling coach while T Dilip is the fielding coach. Amidst this, the BCCI and Gambhir received an important message from former Pakistan star Kamran Akmal.

“The Indian team does not need foreign coaches. They have a lot of options and talent. After Dravid, no one can be the best and biggest than Gautam Gambhir. He was a great player and will also become a great coach, he is the best option India has at the moment,” Akmal was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

“Gambhir was with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). They did very well under him. He became a mentor to KKR and they became champions. He is an incredible planner and has a brilliant cricketing mind. I I played a lot of cricket with him. We have been together for a long time. We played, ate and talked together. We are still good friends.

“He is the best man to coach the Indian team. He should be the head coach. India can choose Ashish Nehra or Zaheer Khan as their bowling coach,” Kamran added.

Gambhir’s name was linked to the position even before he submitted his application. It was his skills leading the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 that made him the “ideal candidate” to replace Dravid.

The CAC, appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the position, asked three important questions, according to RevSportz, of Gambhir and WV Raman, another candidate. They were:

1. What are your ideas regarding the team’s technical staff?

2. With some aging players in the batting and bowling departments, how will you manage the transition phase?

3. What do you think about the captaincy division, fitness parameters regarding workload management and the team’s failure to win ICC trophies?

Topics mentioned in this article