Rajeev Shukla, vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has refuted rumors that the board is thinking of replacing Gautam Gambhir as head coach in the Test format. Former Indian cricket player VVS Laxman was reportedly contacted to take Gambhir’s place as India’s next Test coach, according to earlier media reports. The media claims followed India’s dismal 0-3 loss to New Zealand last year under the same coach, which was followed by a 0-2 Test whitewash at home by South Africa under Gautam Gambhir, their second whitewash in consecutive years.
A once-confident India lost out on a spot in the ICC World Test Championship 2025 final due to the NZ whitewash, and depending on future outcomes, the Proteas’ most recent defeat may also cost them a spot in the prestigious one-off Test championship match.
In response to media claims, BCCI vice-president Shukla has stated unequivocally that Gambhir will remain the head coach of the Indian Test team.
“I want to be absolutely clear about the rumors that are going around in the media concerning Gautam Gambhir, the head coach. Shukla told ANI, “The BCCI secretary, Devajit Saikia, has also made it very clear that there is no plan to remove Gambhir or bring in a new head coach for India.”
Devajit Saikia, the secretary of the BCCI, told ANI earlier that the board has not taken any action to alter the leadership group in the game’s longest format.
“This news is completely false. This news is entirely hypothetical. The news is also being flashed by a few highly reputable news organizations. It is untrue. BCCI immediately disputes. People are free to think anything they like, but the BCCI has done nothing. Saikia stated, “I can only say that this is factually incorrect and baseless news; this is someone’s figment of imagination; there is no truth in it.”
For the foreseeable future, India’s biggest test will not be Test cricket but rather defending their T20 World Cup title, which they won last year under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Suryakumar Yadav will lead a fresh team in the competition, which begins on February 7.
India has been assigned to Group A with Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the USA. They will begin their campaign against the USA on the same day in Mumbai.
It would be an intriguing challenge to play their first T20 World Cup in front of a home crowd without veteran players Rohit and Virat for the first time in a number of years, even though the young Indian team has largely demonstrated the golden standard of T20I cricket this year with their undefeated run across all series.
