When India goes on a white ball tour of Sri Lanka on July 27, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate will be a part of Gautam Gambhir’s support group.
The PTI has heard that Nayar, who has played three One-Day Internationals for India, and Doeschate, a hard-hitting all-round player for the Netherlands, have worked closely with Gambhir at the Kolkata Knight Riders and are expected to be appointed assistant coaches.
Nayar has a solid reputation as a lifestyle/motivational coach who has worked with players like Rinku Singh and Dinesh Karthik, as well as a keen cricket mind.
Doschate is presently employed by the LA Knight Riders in Major League Cricket (MLC), and Gambhir has publicly conveyed his respect for the Dutchman’s focus on the club.
It appears that T Dilip, a member of Rahul Dravid’s coaching staff, will stay on as the fielding coach even if there was no consensus on the nomination of the bowling coach.
For the position of bowling coach, Gambhir had recommended to the BCCI the names of former South African pacer Morne Morkel, as well as former Indian seamers R Vinay Kumar and L Balaji.
Prior to Vinay and Balaji, Morkel might be given the post, according to a July 10 PTI report. Morkel was a coworker of Gambhir’s at the Lucknow Super Giants, but Vinay and Balaji have ties to the cricketer at the KKR.
If Morkel is selected, he will become the first bowling coach from outside of Australia, succeeding Australian Joe Dawes, who served as Duncan Fletcher’s bowling coach until the 2014 England trip.
Before India hosted the 50-over World Cup, Morkel also served as Pakistan’s bowling coach.
On July 22, a chartered flight is scheduled to transport the Indian squad from Mumbai to Colombo.
While the exact time when Doeschate will join the team is still unknown, Nayar and Dilip may also be traveling with them.
