The BCCI announced a coaching change for the Indian cricket team. Jay Shah, the board's secretary, confirmed a new head coach will lead the team in the upcoming Sri Lanka series, replacing Rahul Dravid. However, he remained tight-lipped about the chosen successor. (More Cricket News)
Former opener Gautam Gambhir is anticipated to succeed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian cricket team. The Cricket Advisory Committee conducted interviews for this important position and has shortlisted Gambhir along with former India women's coach WV Raman.
Jay Shah, celebrating India's T20 World Cup victory in the Caribbean, announced the imminent appointment of a new selector alongside the upcoming selection of a new head coach.
"Both coach and selector appointment will be made shortly. CAC has interviewed and shortlisted two names and after reaching Mumbai whatever they have decided we will go by that. VVS Laxman is going to Zimbabwe but new coach will join from Sri Lanka series," Shah told select media, referring to the Zimbabwe tour beginning July 6.
Sri Lanka are ready to host India for a six-match series starting on July 27th, featuring three ODIs and three T20Is.
Team India's Triumph: Experience Wins The Day
Elated after India's historic ICC T20 World Cup win following an 13-year drought, Jay Shah lauded the contributions of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, particularly Kohli's match-winning performance in the final.
Following their T20 World Cup victory, both veterans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, decided to step down from T20 Internationals. A day later, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja joined them in bidding farewell to the format.
"If you look at other teams, experience counts. From Rohit to Virat, all excelled. Experience makes a lot of difference, in World Cups you can't experiment much also. A good player knows when to say goodbye to the game, we saw that yesterday. You look at Rohit's strike rate, it is better than a lot of young players," Shah said.
How does he see the transition panning out following the retirement of Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja?
"Transition has already happened with three greats retiring," Shah said.
India, who had built a reputation of losing the big finals over the past decade, finally ended their title drought after losing two ICC finals over the last 12 months and Shah hoped the winning run will continue.
"I would want India to win all the titles. We have the biggest bench strength, only three players from this team are going to Zimbabwe. We can field three teams if the need arises.
"The way this team is progressing, our target is to win World Test Championship final and Champions Trophy. There will be a similar squad playing there. The seniors will be there," said Shah.
When asked about Hardik Pandya's World Cup performance and potential captaincy, Shah responded that the selectors will decide on the captaincy role after discussions. He acknowledged the doubts about Pandya's form before the tournament but emphasized that both the team management and selectors believed in him, and his performance justified that faith.
India A Team To Tour Australia
Shah also confirmed that an A team will be travelling to Australia later in the year ahead of the five Tests Down Under.
In addition to the A team tour, Shah acknowledged the challenges caused by the hurricane in Barbados. He explained that the celebratory event for the winning team will be planned once their travel situation is resolved, saying they are currently stranded due to the airport closure.
(With PTI Inputs)
