BCCI Reveals Gautam Gambhir's First Assignment As India Head Coach, Kohli And Rohit Likely To Rest

New Delhi: Jay Shah announced Gautam Gambhir as Team India's new Head Coach on July 9, 2024. Gambhir succeeds his Team India senior Rahul Dravid, under whose careful supervision, the 'Men in Blue' lifted their second T20 World Cup title. Ever since BCCI invited applications for the position of Team India Head Coach, Gambhir's name was strongly associated with it but the ex-KKR mentor maintained a firm silence on it.

BCCI Reveals Gautam Gambhir's First Assignment As Head Coach

The Indian team is currently stationed in Zimbabwe to play a 5 match T20I series. The young Indian team is accompanied by National Cricket Academy (NCA) chief VVS Laxman who has donned the hat of the Head Coach for the series. Before Gambhir showed interest in the role, Laxman's name to be the India Head Coach was doing the rounds, but he pulled out of the race.

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After the culmination of the five match IND vs ZIM T20I series, Team India are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka for an away series. The tour will consist of 3 ODIs & 3 T20Is starting July 27, 2024. This will be Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as the Team India Head Coach. Recently Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced their retirement from T20Is and if reports are to be believed, then the duo will be rested for India's Tour to Sri Lanka.

Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Likely To Miss Sri Lanka Tour

India skipper Rohit Sharma and premier batter Virat Kohli are likely to be rested for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in August and either Hardik Pandya or KL Rahul will be asked to lead the side. India pacer Jasprit Bumrah too is likely to be given a break from the ODI series.

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"Both are automatic choices in ODI set up and the three 50 over games against England before the Champions Trophy is good enough practice for them. For next few months, they both will prioritize Tests and India will play 10 of them between September to January," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity. India play 2 Tests versus Bangladesh, followed by three against New Zealand before the big-ticket five Test Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia Down Under.

(With PTI Inputs)