Gautam Gambhir Begins New Era as India’s Head Coach for Sri Lanka Tour

By Vipul Kashyap

Former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha has expressed excitement about the changes Gautam Gambhir will bring as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team. Gambhir, who replaced Rahul Dravid after India’s T20 World Cup win in America, is set to lead the team on his debut tour to Sri Lanka.

Ojha shared his thoughts at an event organized by Sony Sports Network, stating, “The Gautam era has started and it has been good to see what changes he will bring to team India, as this is the new era of the team.”

Under Gambhir’s leadership, Suryakumar Yadav has been appointed as the T20I captain, replacing Hardik Pandya. Shubman Gill, the vice-captain in white-ball formats, will serve as the deputy to Yadav in T20Is and to Rohit Sharma in ODIs. The tour will begin on July 27 with a three-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series starting on August 2.

The T20I matches will be held at the Pallekele International Stadium, while the R Premadasa Stadium will host the ODIs on August 2, 4, and 7.

Ojha also praised Suryakumar Yadav, saying, “I am impressed with Suryakumar Yadav and he is one of the good players and now it has to be seen how he leads the Indian side.”

Additionally, Ojha mentioned that senior players will participate in the Ranji Trophy, emphasizing its importance in their careers. He also supported the decision to include senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series, despite initial expectations that they would rest.

Both India and Sri Lanka will have new head coaches for this series. Sanath Jayasuriya has been named the interim head coach for Sri Lanka. India’s last tour of Sri Lanka for a bilateral white-ball series was in July 2021, where India won the ODI series 2-1, and Sri Lanka won the T20I series by the same margin.

T20I Squad for Sri Lanka Series:

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj.

ODI Squad for Sri Lanka Series:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

Gautam Gambhir -: Gautam Gambhir is a former Indian cricketer who played as an opening batsman. He is now the head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Head Coach -: A head coach is the main person responsible for training and managing a sports team.

Sri Lanka Tour -: The Sri Lanka Tour refers to the Indian cricket team’s visit to Sri Lanka to play matches against the Sri Lankan team.

Pragyan Ojha -: Pragyan Ojha is a former Indian cricketer who played as a left-arm spinner, which means he bowled with his left hand and made the ball spin.

Rahul Dravid -: Rahul Dravid is a former Indian cricketer and was the head coach of the Indian cricket team before Gautam Gambhir.

Suryakumar Yadav -: Suryakumar Yadav is an Indian cricketer who plays as a batsman and is now the captain of the T20I team.

T20I -: T20I stands for Twenty20 International, a format of cricket where each team plays 20 overs.

Shubman Gill -: Shubman Gill is an Indian cricketer who plays as a batsman and is now the vice-captain of the T20I team.

ODI -: ODI stands for One Day International, a format of cricket where each team plays 50 overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya -: Sanath Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and is now the head coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team.