Team India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and fielding coach T Dilip could be asked to pack their bags soon as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is seriously considering trimming head coach Gautam Gambhir‘s support staff before the England tour. According to a Dainik Jagran report, BCCI does not want to keep the jumbo support staff of the men’s team going forward. The decision, in all probability, will be finalised in a high-profile meeting in Guwahati on March 29 among BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir, the report added.
When Gambhir replaced Rahul Dravid as India’s head coach after the latter decided to discontinue following a successful T20 World Cup-winning campaign, he became the first coach of Team India to bring two assistant coaches and a bowling coach with him. Breaking away from the full-Indian support staff during Ravi Shastri and Dravid’s tenure, India roped in Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar as assistant coaches. At the same time, Morne Morkel took over the bowing coach’s responsibility from Paras Mhambrey.
After India lost at home against New Zealand and were beaten by Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the BCCI appointed NCA and A team coach Sitanshu Kotak as the senior team’s batting coach. Nayar, ten Doeschate, Morkel, Dilip and Kotak were all part of the coaching staff in India’s Champions Trophy-winning campaign.
Notably, India’s jumbo support staff doesn’t end there. Apart from the designated coaches, the team has three throwdown specialists, two massage therapists, a senior and a junior physiotherapist, a team doctor, a security and operations manager, a computer analyst, and a few logistical and media managers. Many have been a part of the team for nearly a decade, and some, like Raghavendra, have been associated with the team since 2011.
Who will replace Abhishek Nayar and T Dilip?
Their position is unlikely to be changed. But the same may not be true for Nayar and Dilip. With Kotak already there as the batting coach and Morkel taking over the responsibility of the bowlers, the board feels there is no need of another assistant coach and a fielding coach.
Dilip is the only surviving member of Dravid’s support staff. The report highlighted that Dilip overstayed his welcome. He has been part of the team for more than three years now. In his absence, ten Doeschate can take over the fielding coach’s responsibility.
India has done exceedingly well in white-ball cricket, winning two ICC tournaments in a span of nine months for the first time. But their Test performance has nosedived. The team has lost six out of their nine Test matches, winning just one. After the IPL, India’s next assignment is the five-match Test series against England in June. The board wants the entire support staff, selectors and the players to take the A tour very seriously.
