Abhishek Nayar, Ryan ten Doeschate, T Dilip find place in Gautam Gambhir's coaching staff

Former cricketers Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate have been elected to join Gautam Gambhir as team India’s new coaching staff. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was in talks with several former cricketers before confirming the duo, as head coach Gambhir wanted them right from the start. Meanwhile, T Dilip will continue as the fielding coach as the board is expected to formally announce the signings soon.

When it comes to the bowling coach, Morne Morkel is currently the favourite to replace Paras Mhambrey, but the decision is yet to be finalized. Morkel worked with Gambhir previously in Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, and the new India head coach asked the BCCI officials to consider him for the bowling coach role. 

As things stand, Abhishek and Gautam will travel with the Indian squad for the series against Sri Lanka. However, it’s unclear when ten Doeschate will join the team. He is currently in the United States for the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC), which will end on July 29. He is part of the LA Knight Riders (LAKR) and may join the squad during the ODI series.

There’s no clear update on Morkel as well. As per Cricbuzz, the cricketer is likely to be named as the bowling coach as the officials have held discussions with him, but there’s no update on that.

Meanwhile, team India will depart for Sri Lanka on July 22. They will be travelling via chartered flight from Mumbai and ahead of that, Gambhir is reported to hold a press conference. It is in the same event when chief selector Ait Agarkar is likely to officially welcome him to the Indian team. It is also expected that the new set of coaching staff will be announced on the same day.

Also, BCCI secretary Jay Shah is already in Colombo for the Annual Conference of the International Cricket Council (ICC), where he is likely to meet the players and new T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav.