MUST-READ! Gautam Gambhir shares special message for predecessor Rahul Dravid after becoming India coach
Gautam Gambhir (C) shares message for Rahul Dravid (R) after becoming India head coach
On Tuesday (July 9), BCCI announced Gautam Gambhir as India's new head coach. Gambhir will take charge of the senior men's team from the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, starting from July 27, and will serve until the 2027 ODI World Cup. Thus, Gambhir takes over from Rahul Dravid, under whom the Men in Blue ended their ICC title drought after an 11-year-gap with a win during the recently-held 20-nation T20 World Cupin the West Indies and the USA. Dravid's extended tenure ended with the T20 World Cup triumph. After taking over, Gambhir shared a special message for his predecessor.
'I would like to congratulate Rahul Dravid and his team for their exemplary run'
Gambhir said in a BCCI press release, "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."
The former Indian opener added, "I have always taken pride while 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."
Also read:Rahul Dravid DECLINES extra bonus, wants BCCI to pay all coaches EQUALLY for T20 WC triumph
Gambhir represented India from 2004-2016, having made his international debut under Sourav Ganguly. He even played under Dravid's captaincy before serving as MS Dhoni's deputy for a long time. In his illustrious career, which ended in late 2018, Gambhir finished with 4,154 Test runsin 58 matches, and 5,238 ODI runs in 147 games. In addition, he played 37 T20Is, amassing 932 runs. He returned with 20 international centuries and was part of India's 2007 and 2011 ODI World Cup triumphs, ending as the highest run-getter in bothfinals.
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Post retirement, Gambhir has served as the team mentor for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) from 2022-23 -- and helped them reachthe playoffs on both occasions -- before returning to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp, where he won two IPL championships as captain, ahead of the 2024 season. Under his mentorship, the Shreyas Iyer-led KKR won their third title in this year's IPL.