It won’t be long before Gautam Gambhir takes over as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, following Rahul Dravid’s departure after winning the T20 World Cup. Gambhir has been the front-runner for the role since Dravid’s confirmation of stepping down. He was one of the two applicants to go through the interview process conducted by the Cricket Advisory Committee. Multiple reports suggest that Gambhir is certain to be India’s next head coach. Despite this, the BCCI is taking its time to announce the inevitable.
The resolution lies in salary discussions. As per The Indian Express, Gambhir and BCCI are in the “last phases of salary discussions”. Once Gambhir’s compensation is settled, the BCCI will issue an official statement.
The BCCI is maintaining flexibility when it comes to the salary of the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. The advertisement for the position stated that the compensation is “open for negotiation and will be based on experience.”
It is anticipated that Gambhir will receive a higher salary compared to the previous coach, Rahul Dravid, who earned approximately ₹12 crore annually.
This will mark Gambhir’s debut at the national level. Notably, he has never held the position of head coach for any team before. His coaching background is limited to the IPL, where he served as the mentor for the Lucknow Super Giants for a couple of seasons before joining KKR last year and contributing to their IPL victory.
Currently, the Indian team in Zimbabwe is under the guidance of NCA head VVS Laxman. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that India will tour Sri Lanka for a white-ball series under a new head coach.
Furthermore, the BCCI is expected to call for applications for the team’s support staff as the tenures of batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T Dilip concluded after the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
In the selection of the support staff, the BCCI tradition involves granting the head coach the final decision-making authority. Gambhir is likely to have the autonomy to select his support staff once the application process is finalized.