Nayar, Ten Doeschate: Meet all the Gambhir’s men as new regime kicks in

The Gautam Gambhir era is set to begin in Indian cricket on Saturday – albeit with a low-profile three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at the scenic Pallekele Stadium. It’s certainly akin to taking a fresh guard for the Men in Blue, the T20 World Cup champions, with a new captain and support staff in tow.

While the choice of Gambhir as the potential successor to Rahul Dravid as head coach had been one of BCCI’s worst kept secrets in recent months, it was his pick of support staff which provided the drama instead. Any such choices, thanks to the media, become a subject of intense speculation – and it was no different with the buzz on how the BCCI top brass (read: Jay Shah) had reportedly been turning down Gambhir’s suggestions.

However, the two-time World Cup winner and a successful mentor in IPL in a rather short span of three seasons, has had his say. The new-look support staff now comprises Abhishek Nayar, a former India and Mumbai allrounder and Dutchman Ryan Ten Doeschate as his two ‘assistant coaches’ while T. Dilip is the only surviving member of the previous regime as the fielding coach.

The trio had been on view during India’s practice sessions under Gambhir’s supervision in Sri Lanka, while the replacement of Paras Mhambrey as the bowling coach is yet to be officially named. However, given that the BCCI has given in to Gambhir’s demand for an overseas coach in Ten Doeschate, a deviation from the current practice, it’s a matter of time that Morne Morkel – the South African pace ace and former bowling coach of Pakistan – is confirmed as the bowling coach. He has been reportedly approached and in the interim, the Indian team management has flown in Sairaj Bahutule, former India leg spinner and a long serving coach at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, to step in just for the ongoing tour.

‘’I have worked with people like Abhishek Nayar, Ryan Ten Doeschate very closely. In the last two months, especially in the IPL, I have enjoyed working with them. They are thorough professionals. Hope Ryan and Abhishek can have a successful stint,’’ Gambhir said at his opening press conference earlier this week.

 Here’s a look at the credentials of the new support staff of Gambhir:

 Abhishek Nayar

A self-effacing personality, the 40-year-old Nayar may have played just three ODIs for India but won multiple Ranji Trophy titles with Mumbai in his first class career, which spanned over 100 matches. When he was an active player, Nayar mentored Dinesh Karthik and helped him stage an international comeback while he is credited with developing the finisher in Rinku Singh from a raw talent at the KKR academy in Mumbai.

After the Knights won their first IPL title after 10 years this season, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy heaped praise on Nayar for his role in giving personal attention to the uncapped players. Nayar has also worked as the head coach of Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Ryan Ten Doeschate

It’s perhaps be no exaggeration to say that Ryan Ten Doeschate, whose international career for The Netherlands spanned for 15 years between 2006 and 2021, had been arguably the best cricketer to come out of the associate member countries. Now 44, the seam bowling allrounder had won the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year award thrice between 2008 and 2011 and was captain of a high standing with Essex.

The South Africa-born allrounder was the first player from any associate nation to be offered an IPL contract and played under Gambhir’s captaincy in KKR for five seasons. The chemistry between him and Gambhir is all too well known and prior to the 2024 IPL season, Gambhir famously said in a public event that he would be ready to ‘take a bullet’ for a teammate like Ten Doeschate.

Soon after his retirement in 2021, the Dutch was roped in by Kent as their batting coach. He is currently with Los Angeles Knight Riders in the USA’s Major League Cricket as an assistant head coach Phil Simmons.

 Morne Morkel

 The appointment of Morne Morkel as the bowling coach has still not been ratified but it’s again an open secret that the South African speedster, a lynchpin in their attack for years and known for accuracy, has been approached for the prized role. He had worked with Gambhir at Lucknow Super Giants and Durban’s Super Giants in the SA20 where Gambhir was the global mentor.

At 39 years, Morkel had been an active player till recently and can bring to the table a lot for the likes of Jasprit Bumrah & Co.