On Monday evening, the Indian cricket troupe arrived in Pallekele, Sri Lanka for their forthcoming limited overs’ international series scheduled to start on July 27th.
#TeamIndia have reached Sri Lanka. Mumbai to Pallekele via Colombo,” read a caption on the video that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) shared on X—previously known as Twitter.
Gautam Gambhir addressed journalists in Mumbai before going with his team.The T20I leg starts off on 27th, 28th and 30th July at Pallekele International Stadium.
The next three-match ODI series will be held at the R Premadasa Stadium starting from August 1st after the T20I leg ends.
In this presser, Gambhir reveals that being an Indian coach is a significantly important role considering what Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri and himself had done before. This means that he has to rise up to expectations previously fulfilled by individuals such as Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid who are household names or even much more than that.
“The most important thing is that they will always have my back. Aim to make it a happy and secure dressing room. I am taking over a very successful team. Runner-ups in WTC and 50-overs WC. I have big shoes to fill and am looking forward to it,” ANI quoted Gambhir as saying in the press conference.
His assistant coach would be Abhishek Nayar, who once played alongside him in Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Furthermore, Ryan ten Doeschate would join him as part of the support staff providing his technical expertise and guidance towards players.
“I have worked closely with Abhishek and Ryan in the last two months at the IPL with KKR. Both are absolute professionals and hopefully they will have a successful stint with the Indian team as coaches,” he said.
In fact, Nayar, after playing over 100 first class matches for Mumbai and winning multiple ranji titles with them, was responsible for mentoring Dinesh Karthik back to the Indian team when he had almost given up.
Nayar’s coaching skills were immediately apparent during his playing days as a cricketer when he tutored Dinesh Karthik back into international cricket.
Recently, Varun Chakravarthy credited Nayar when the latter’s role was instrumental in KKR bagging their maiden IPL title in ten years. Another feather in his cap is that Nayar has also been head coach of Trinbago Knight Riders in Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
At present, ten Doeschate serves as an assistant coach of Los Angeles Knight Riders during this season of Major League Cricket (MLC). He has also served as batting coach at Kent County Cricket Club.
