Indian Cricket Team Head Coach Rushes Back To India Due To Personal Reasons

Delhi (India) June 13: India head coach Gautam Gambhir rushed back to India hours before the India vs India A intra-squad practice match in Kent due to a family emergency. According to a RevSportz report, Gambhir’s mother, Seema, suffered a heart attack and is currently in the ICU. Gambhir is expected to rejoin the Indian team before the start of the first Test against England in Leeds on June 20. Gambhir was not part of the practice session on Thursday.

“Team India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, is returning to India from England due to a family emergency,” sources told news agency ANI.

In Gambhir’s absence, the senior Indian side, which will play a four-day intra-squad match against India A, starting Friday, is likely to be under batting coach Sitangshu Kotak and bowling coach Morne Morkel.

This is Gambhir’s first England tour as the head coach of the Indian team. His role is set to be extremely crucial as the Indian Test side has gone through a major transition after the retirement of three stalwarts Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In their last overseas assignment, India lost to Australia 1-3.

Gautam Gambhir extremely crucial for India’s chances in England

Gambhir will have a new captain in Shubman Gill to try and win India’s first Test series on English soil in 18 years. The last time India beat England in England was under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy in 2007. Gambhir, instrumental in the selection of the new-age Indian Test side under Shubman Gill, reportedly wanted a real-feel Test-match-like surface for the intra-squad match so that the players prepare well for the five-match Test series.

Gambhir also opted for a “closed-door” session to prevent the opposition from generating tactical ideas, emulating a long-established practice among European football clubs. They had done the same during the tour of Australia earlier this year.

The four-day game, which doesn’t have the official first-class status, gives batters a second go if someone is dismissed cheaply. With 360 overs of match simulation available over four days, it will give the team management a chance to allow the bowling unit get enough overs under their belt.

That would be handy in ensuring that the bowlers – be it a spinner or a pacer – have the requisite rhythm in an actual match. Gambhir will have some work to do in terms of zeroing in on a lone specialist spinner for Headingley.

There is Ravindra Jadeja, whose superior batting becomes a huge factor in SENA countries but against England’s ‘Bazballers’, Kuldeep Yadav’s versatility could complement pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah better if India harbour any hopes of picking 20 wickets.

Jadeja versus Kuldeep is the biggest, playing eleven jigsaw puzzle that Gambhir and the coaching staff need to sort out. Similarly, the intra-squad game will also give the coaches and skipper Shubman Gill a chance to see which of Akash Deep’s fuller length or Prasidh Krishna’s back of the length stuff works better in these conditions.

Bumrah, who will be playing a red-ball game after six months, will also get a chance to bowl multiple spells and test his fitness having only played IPL since his comeback from a lower back stress injury.