Head Coach Gautam Gambhir ’takes charge’, BCCI shares Team India video | Watch

Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach of Indian men's cricket team on Tuesday. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the news with an Instagram post of Gambhir training with the cricket team.

The 15-member India team, headed by captain Suryakumar Yadav arrived here via Colombo for three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

“Head Coach Gautam Gambhir Takes Charge!” wrote BCCI on microblogging website X with a short video showing the players training with Gambhir.

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The team, along with the support staff had left Mumbai on Monday after a pre-departure press conference addressed by Gambhir, who took over Rahul Dravid as the national coach, and BCCI's chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.

The team, comprising of several youngsters with Shubman Gill as the vice-captain, is without stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, who announced retirement from T20Is following India's title triumph in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Suryakumar was last week appointed the new T20 captain ahead of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who previous led the side, because of his fitness and the feedback the team management got from the dressing room.

The team has a fair sprinkling of experience as apart from Suryakumar and Gill, it also has Sanju Samson, Pandya and pacers Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh among others.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

On Monday, Gambhir said he expects senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to be available for most of the ODIs and Tests after retiring from T20 Internationals, expressing hope that they would "keep their fitness" to be in the reckoning for the 2027 50-over World Cup.

Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirement from the T20I format after India's World Cup win earlier this month and were expected to miss the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

However, they both were named in India's squad for next month's three ODIs in the island nation keeping in mind the Champions Trophy, which is slated for the first quarter of the next year.

(With PTI inputs)