Gautam Gambhir, who has recently been appointed as India’s head coach, wants former Dutch star Ryan ten Doeschate as part of his coaching staff. As per a report on Cricbuzz, the decision now lies with the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). Gambhir, who has requested a free hand in managing the team, wants the 44-year-old former Dutch international as one of his associates. Ten Doeschate has recently worked with Gambhir at the Kolkata Knight Riders, having served as the team's fielding coach in the team's championship winning 2024. He also holds various positions with KKR's subsidiaries in the Caribbean Premier League, Major League Cricket and ILT20.
The BCCI reportedly wants to retain T Dilip, a member of Rahul Dravid's outgoing staff, as the fielding coach. In this scenario, ten Doeschate may be brought in as an assistant coach. However, there is a complication: Abhishek Nayar, who is certain to join Team Gambhir, is also being considered for a similar assistant coach role rather than for a specialised batting coach role. Some adjustments may be necessary if the BCCI eventually decides to bring ten Doeschate on board. The newly appointed coach, Gambhir will start his tenure from the Sri Lanka series, which is set to commence at the end of this month. The T20I and ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series will be announced in the next few days but the IPL-winning former KKR mentor's priority for the next one year would be the two traditional formats -- ODIs and Tests.
Gambhir's first big test would certainly be Australia, where India under Ravi Shastri's tutelage had won back-to-back Test series in 2018-19 and 2020-21.After 33 years (since 1991-92), India and Australia will be engaged in a five-Test series with the opening Test starting on one of the bounciest tracks -- the Optus Stadium in Perth.While Gambhir had spent enormous amount of time strategising for Delhi as its captain between 2013-17 in the Ranji Trophy, his standing as a red-ball coach will hinge a lot on a series, which will also prove to be decisive as far as India's qualification for the World Test Championship is concerned.