Rahul Dravid's tenure as head coach will end after T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. The hunt for the new head coach for the men's cricket team is on and Gautam Gambhir is the frontrunner for the top position. After leading Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title as mentor, Gambhir has been in conversation with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Gambhir was seen having a conversation with BCCI secretary Jay Shah after KKR beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the IPL 2024 final at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. As per a report by Cricbuzz, a high-profile owner of an IPL franchise said that Gambhir will take up the role and the announcement is likely to be made soon. Also, a high profile commentator who is privy to the developments in the BCCI said that the board has approached Gambhir.
If Gambhir becomes India's head coach, it would mean that he will not be able to commentate or be a part of an IPL franchise to avoid conflict of interest. The former Indian opener who has a member of the team that won T20 World Cup 2007 and ODI World Cup 2011 is an established broadcaster and now a successful mentor as well.
No Australian approached for post, Langer’s controversial comment
Earlier, Shah had said that BCCI has not approached any of the former Australian cricketers like Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer. Both feel that they don’t have time to commit to the job.
Langer went on to say that he had a conversation with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) captain KL Rahul who told him that it is a thousand times tougher than handling an IPL team.
"It would be an amazing job, [but] I have [put myself out of contention]," Langer said on BBC's Stumped podcast. "I also know that it's an all-encompassing role, and having done it for four years with the Australian team, honestly, it's exhausting. And that's the Australian job!"
"You never say never. And the pressure of doing it in India… I was talking to KL Rahul [the captain at Lucknow Super Giants, where Langer is the head coach] and he said, 'You know, if you think there's pressure and politics in an IPL team, multiply that by a thousand, [that's] coaching India. That was a good bit of advice, I guess. It would be an awesome job, but not for me at the moment."
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