"India is my identity and serving my country has been the greatest privilege of my life. I’m honoured to be back, albeit wearing a different hat," wrote Gautam Gambhir in a social media post after he was appointed India's head coach. (More Cricket News)
Gambhir, 42, has played numerous memorable knocks wearing the blue jersey but his crucial performances in the 2007 T20 World Cup final and 2011 ODI World Cup final are still fresh in every Indian cricket fan's memory.
"But my goal is the same as it has always been, to make every Indian proud' added the 42-year-old. "The men in blue shoulder the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians and I will do everything in my power to make these dreams come true!"
He has represented India in 242 matches including all the formats, and made over 10,000 runs in international cricket. He has also captained the Indian side in six ODIs between 2010 and 2011 and registered victory in all of them. He was the ICC Test Player of the Year in 2009 and was the number one in Test rankings that year.
Gambhir has a glorious IPL career as well. He has played 154 IPL matches with Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) combined. He captained KKR in 2011 and helped them win the title in 2012 and 2014. He re-joined KKR as a mentor in 2024 and guided them to their third IPL trophy.
He joined politics with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 and ran for elections from the East Delhi seat in the general elections. He won the elections and served for five years. He left politics after his tenure ended and fully concentrated on his cricket duties.
In his new role as the Head Coach of Team India, Gambhir will be responsible for overseeing the development and performance of the Indian cricket team. His primary focus will be on cultivating a culture of excellence, discipline, and teamwork. Additionally, he will be dedicated to nurturing young talent and preparing the team for future challenges on the global stage.
The former India batter will assume his role as head coach with the upcoming away series against Sri Lanka where Team India are set to play 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is starting July 27, 2024.
From BCCI's press release, Gambhir said, “It is an absolute honour to serve my tricolour, my people, my country. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rahul Dravid and his team of support staff for their exemplary run with the team. I am honoured and excited to take on the role of Head Coach for Team India.
I have always taken pride in donning the Indian jersey during my playing days and it is going to be no different when I take up this new role. Cricket has been my passion and I look forward to working closely with the BCCI, Head of Cricket – Mr VVS Laxman, the support staff, and, most importantly, the players, as we work towards achieving success in the upcoming tournaments.”
