Gautam Gambhir's Support Staff Might Have This Big Surprise Foreign Recruit: Report

For almost a decade now, BCCI has trusted only Indian names in the coaching department and the support staff of the team but with the appointment of the new coach, Gautam Gambhir, things might be up for a change. (More Cricket News)

As per a report published on Cricbuzz on Thursday, Gambhir is advocating for the inclusion of former Netherlands all-rounder Ryan Ten Doeschate in his support staff.

The all-rounder worked with Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders last season in IPL when the franchise won their first trophy in a decade. The 44-year-old Ten Doeschate was also a part of the Gambhir-led KKR from 2011 to 2015. The Dutch is currently associated with the other Knight Riders franchise in the Caribbean Premier League, Major League Cricket and ILT20.

As per the report, discussions around ten Doeschate's role are currently going on with Gambhir keen to have him as part of the support staff.

The Dutch all-rounder was KKR's fielding coach in their title-winning 2024 IPL campaign but in the Indian set-up the incumbent T Dilip is reportedly set to be retained for the position.

A Cricbuzz report had earlier stated that Abhishek Nayar is a certainty in Gambhir's support staff and he could be the assistant coach. There are also reports of Gambhir himself taking up the batting coach's role. Amid all this, ten Doeschate's role in the team is still being discussed and no decision has been reached yet.

After being an open secret for the past few weeks, Gambhir was finally officially appointed as the head coach of the senior men's cricket team on Tuesday. The left-hander had acted as a mentor for KKR in their title-winning run in IPL 2024. In 2022 and 2023 he had served the same role for Lucknow Super Giants and the franchise had made it to the Play-offs of both the editions.

Gambhir replaces Rahul Dravid as India head coach, who had announced that 2024 T20 World Cup will be his last assignment.