In a major development ahead of India's tour of Sri Lanka, former all-rounders Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are set to join the support staff as assistant coaches for the multi-format series against the Lankan Lions, ESPNCricinfo reported.
The two are in line to unite with new India head coach Gautam Gambhir after working with him in the Kolkata Knight Riders setup during the IPL 2024. Moreover, the report added that former South Africa speedster Morne Morkel has been approached to take the role of India's bowling coach. He has also worked with Gambhir at Lucknow Super Giants and also at Durban's Super Giants.
It also stated that former Indian speedster Vinay Kumar has also been approached for the bowling coach role but Morkel is the frontrunner. The upcoming series against Sri Lanka will be the first task for the new Indian support staff. For the just-concluded T20I series against Zimbabwe, VVS Laxman was in charge of the Men in Blue.
India will now face Sri Lanka for a three-match T20I and a three-match ODI series from July 27 onwards. BCCI recently announced India's squads for the two series. Suryakumar Yadav has been named as the captain for the T20I series with Shubman Gill being his deputy despite Hardik Pandya present in the team.
Surya has led India in the two T20I series post the ODI World Cup 2023 - against Australia and South Africa. Gill was the skipper for the second-string Indian team for the five-match series against Zimbabwe.
Contrary to the previous reports, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been picked for the ODI series with the former being the captain. Jasprit Bumrah has been given a break from both T20Is and ODIs. Gill is the vice-captain in the ODIs too.
Riyan Parag and Harshit Rana have been called in the ODI setup too after being part of the T20I squad for the Zimbabwe series, while Shivam Dube has also been selected for the 50-over series. Hardik Pandya has asked for a break from the ODIs.
T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ꮪhubman 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: 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.
