Shah Rukh Khan and Rahul Dravid. (Source – Twitter/X)
Gautam Gambhir is on the verge of being appointed as the new head coach of team India. He will replace Rahul Dravid at the helm of things and will join the squad later in the month, ahead of the series against Sri Lanka. As per reports, the southpaw has already shot a video at Eden Gardens saying goodbye to the fans of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and is in the final stage of all the formalities before BCCI announces him.
Interestingly, KKR have approached Dravid to replace Gambhir as a mentor for IPL 2025. After his tenure ended as India head coach, the former cricketer kept the door open to return to IPL and Kolkata wanted to cash in on that. After Gambhir’s departure, they were looking for a mentor who would work alongside Chandrakant Pandit and given Dravid’s CV, he seems to be one of the contenders.
A report in News18 Bangla confirmed the development, but Dravid is yet to respond to it. It hasn’t been a week since his return to India, and things are still in a very early stage. The 51-year-old decided to take a break from the game and spend more time with the family and because of the same, the process might take months to complete, if Dravid is interested in the first place.
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Meanwhile, a local Bengal daily, Aajkaal reported that Abhishek Nayar might join the India team as one of the support staff. Gambhir shares a close relationship with the Mumbai cricketer, and he has done a remarkable job with the young players of KKR. Gambhir wants to use his service in the Indian team as well, but the deal may fall through, given WV Raman is also in the race.
BCCI will invite applications soon to confirm Gambhir’s support staff. A lot is expected to come to light in the coming days, as the officials are eager to complete the process as soon as possible.