Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate will be travelling to Sri Lanka as part of Gautam Gambhir’s support staff for the upcoming white-ball series. While an official confirmation from the BCCI is still pending, Nayar is expected to board the Colombo-bound flight from Mumbai on Monday (July 22) afternoon along with Gambhir and the rest of the Indian team members. As for ten Doeschate, he is likely to join the team directly in Colombo.
Nayar and ten Doeschate both served on the coaching staff of the Kolkata Knight Riders, where Gautam Gambhir was the team mentor. Ten Doeschate, a former Netherlands all-rounder, had also played alongside Gambhir as a KKR player. Interestingly, while ten Doeschate was KKR’s fielding coach, he and Nayar are now set to join the Indian national team as assistant coaches for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
During the tenures of head coaches Ravi Shastri and Rahul Dravid, Team India did not have any official assistant coaches. The potential addition of two assistant coaches would mark the first time such a structure has existed in Indian cricket.
“Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate are leaving for Sri Lanka as the support staff for the Indian team,” a source confirmed.
As per sources, BCCI was highly satisfied with T Dilip’s performance as fielding coach and wanted him to continue in that role. Dilip is expected to retain the position and will travel with the team on Monday. Gambhir too accepted the board’s decision.
Dilip is the sole member of Rahul Dravid’s current coaching staff to be retained from the previous staff. It is not uncommon for coaches to carry over from one head coach to the next. Rathour joined Ravi Shastri’s coaching team in 2019, replacing Sanjay Bangar, and maintained his position when Dravid took over as head coach.
The BCCI’s search for a new bowling coach remains uncertain. Gambhir has publicly endorsed ex-South African pacer Morne Morkel for the role. The board has also reached out to former pacer, who is in Australia, but no deal has been finalized yet. Additionally, highly respected former Australian and NCA coach Troy Cooley could be considered as a temporary bowling coach for the Sri Lanka tour.