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India’s coaching team could soon see some big changes, even though one of Gautam Gambhir’s senior support staff members still has time left on his contract. According to a report by The Times of India, the coach has already been speaking with an IPL franchise that owns teams in multiple leagues. The future of another member of the support staff is also said to be uncertain.
The report suggests these discussions have been going on for several months and are not simply because of India’s recent poor results in Ireland and England. Under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, India are yet to win a match on the tour and have suffered back-to-back series defeats.
When Gambhir became India’s head coach in July 2024, he chose Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar as his assistant coaches. Morne Morkel later joined as the bowling coach before the Bangladesh Test series. All three were given two-year contracts, with an option to extend for one more year.
At the time, it was widely believed that Gambhir personally wanted all three coaches because he had previously worked with them in the IPL. However, things have already changed. Nayar was removed after the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, and Sitanshu Kotak took over as batting coach.
Rumours about more changes have grown after the BCCI decided to put VVS Laxman in charge of the upcoming Zimbabwe tour and the Asian Games instead of Gambhir’s regular coaching staff. Sairaj Bahutale’s continued role with the national team has also led to speculation that the board may be preparing a new coaching setup.
BCCI to review India's defeat vs England and Ireland
The BCCI is expected to review the team’s performance after the ongoing white-ball series in England. However, the report says those meetings are likely to focus on how the team has played rather than on the future of the coaching staff.
Even so, there is still uncertainty over who will remain in the support team. If any coaches leave, India could have a fresh coaching group in place before the Test series against Sri Lanka.
Although the report did not go into detail, there were already rumours last year that both Morne Morkel and Ryan ten Doeschate could lose their positions when India struggled during the Test season.
The report also claimed that problems behind the scenes have added to the uncertainty. Differences within the dressing room and disagreements between the selectors and the coaching staff are believed to have created tension. It further stated that these issues became more serious after India’s 2-0 home Test series defeat to South Africa, making the situation even more difficult for everyone involved.