India’s current coach, Rahul Dravid, will finish his time in charge after the T20 World Cup. There are reports saying that ex-player Gautam Gambhir will be the one to take on this important role. A little while ago, it was said that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) talked to Gambhir about the job, and he agreed after the board met some of his requests. Now, another report says that Gambhir is the only person who has applied for the head coach position.
The Indian Express reports that Gambhir will have an interview with the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) via Zoom on Tuesday. This follows the BCCI’s call for applications for the head coach position in mid-May, with the application deadline being May 27.
Gambhir, who is currently mentoring KKR, helped them win the IPL 2024 by defeating SRH in the final on May 26, just a day before the head coach application deadline.
The report also mentions that the CAC, which includes former cricketers Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe, and Sulakshana Naik, will also conduct interviews for the open selector position from the North Zone.
Right now, the head of the selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, and Salil Ankola are both from the West Zone. A new selector from the North Zone will soon take Ankola’s place.
Ankola was already on the selection committee when the BCCI chose Agarkar to be the chief, taking over from Chetan Sharma. Sharma had gotten into trouble because of a controversy involving a secret recording.
After they finish the interviews, the CAC will suggest to the BCCI who should be the head coach and the new selector.
“We’re holding interviews to find someone to be the head coach and team picker. A group called the CAC will tell the BCCI who they think should get the job, and then the BCCI will tell everyone who it is,” a person from the BCCI told the Indian Express.
The new coach, who might be Gambir, will start in July 2024 and their job will last until December 31, 2027, which is when the next big one-day cricket tournament happens.
