The recent victory of the India cricket team in the T20 World Cup 2024 marked the end of Rahul Dravid‘s tenure as the head coach. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been actively searching for a new candidate to fill this critical role, with the hunt for the next head coach intensifying over the past few months. Gautam Gambhir and former Women’s team coach WV Raman have emerged as the front-runners, having been interviewed by the BCCI’s CAC committee.
Blessing Muzarabani’s perspective on Gautam Gambhir
Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani, who played under Gambhir’s mentorship at Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season, believed that Gambhir is the perfect candidate to succeed Dravid. Muzurabani shared his thoughts during an exclusive interaction with India Today, expressing confidence in Gambhir’s ability to lead the national team effectively. He described Gambhir as a calm individual with all the necessary qualities to be a successful coach.
Qualities and potential Impact
Gambhir’s calm demeanor and strategic mindset were highlighted by Muzurabani, who noted that his experience with Gambhir at LSG gave him insight into his coaching capabilities. Although Muzarabani’s time with LSG was brief, he firmly believed that Gambhir’s leadership and vision could significantly benefit the Indian cricket team.
“Yes. Oh, yes. Yes, of course. He’s a great guy. He’s calm. I mean, he’s achieved a lot in international cricket, so I don’t see any reason for him not to use. He’s got everything it is like to lead their team. So, um, I think it would be really nice for for India and for him as well to start, you know, to be a head coach for them. I’m sure that he’s gonna do a lot of good things for for India, because he is. I mean, what I saw when I was there, I think he’s gonna do well right now,” Muzarabani said.
Focus on the Zimbabwe vs India T20I series
While Muzurabani continues to harbor dreams of playing in the IPL, he emphasized that his current focus is on performing well in the upcoming T20I series against India. The five-match series between Zimbabwe and India is taking place from July 6 to July 14. This series will be an important opportunity for both teams to showcase their talents and for Zimbabwe to challenge the World Cup-winning Indian team.
“I’m sure every cricketer would wanna play IPL, as it’s one of the best (leagues) in the world. And, you play against the best, so everyone wants to be there. So, of course, I would wanna be there. But going there, there’s a lot of steps that we have to take. That is to perform and make sure you make a name for yourself in your country. So IPL will be really nice for me and the guys as well. But, we’re not really thinking about IPL right now. I was just thinking about, how we can win this series because we are believing we are capable of winning,” Muzarabani concluded.