Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra has opened up on the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as India’s new head coach. Nehra also predicted the future of Team India with Gautam Gambhir as the head coach.
Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the new head coach of India after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended after the 2024 T20 World Cup. Dravid requested the BCCI not to renew his contract further, paving the way for Gambhir to take over the role.
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Ashish Nehra speaks on the appointment of Gautam Gambhir as India’s head coach
In an interview with The Hindu, Ashish Nehra was asked about the selection of Gautam Gambhir as the new coach of India. Nehra praised his former Delhi teammate and said that Gambhir is very passionate and hardworking. He also said that Gambhir will bring in transparency which will help the team to have more clarity in its roles.
“I have known him for many years and before that too, I would tell him the same thing over and over again. He is the same person. He is very passionate, very hard-working. He is always open, he never beats around the bush, which is great. The transparency is there. In the future, I think he will do very well,” Nehra said.
Nehra also mentioned that Indian cricket is improving year by year and giving better results. He hopes India will make progress with Gautam Gambhir.
“I mean, if you look at the results, in the last five to seven years, as Indian cricket progresses, the results are getting better and better. This will continue to be the case. As I said, it is really exciting to see,” Nehra said.
Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir are good friends off the field. Both players played international cricket around the same time and shared a good rapport.
Ashish Nehra and Gautam Gambhir’s coaching history
Both Nehra and Gambhir are not only world-class players on the cricket field but have also been excellent in working in the coaching staff. In the IPL 2024, both Nehra and Gambhir were involved in the coaching staff of their respective teams.
Ashish Nehra was the head coach of the Gujarat Titans. In a short period, the Titans have already won one IPL title and finished as runners-up last year. However, in the IPL 2024, they failed to make it to the playoffs. Nehra is still the head coach of the Titans and we are likely to see him with the team next year.
Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir was appointed as the mentor of Lucknow Super Giants for their first two years in 2022 and 2023. In both seasons, the Super Giants reached the playoff stage. In IPL 2024, Gambhir rejoined his former IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR put in a terrific performance this year and became IPL champions for the third time in their history.
Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as India’s head coach was the T20I series against Sri Lanka, which India won 3-0. His next assignment will be the ODI series against Sri Lanka, which will be played in Colombo.
