Gautam Gambhir's Team India Support Staff to be Trimmed Down by BCCI, Two Coaches to Face Axe - Report

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly set to trim down Gautam Gambhir's Team India support staff ahead of the tour to England later this year with two coaches in line for the axe.

According to a report by Dainik Jagran, the Indian cricket body is planning for major changes to the coaching staff, which is led by Gambhir, before the team heads to England for the five-match Test series in June.

The report claims that assistant coach Abhishek Nayar and fielding coach T Dilip are the ones likely to be sacked as the BCCI is not in favour of a huge support staff going forward. The decision will be taken at a high-profile meeting in Guwahati on Saturday (March 29).

When Gambhir took over as head coach to fill the role vacated by Rahul Dravid, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate were hired as assistant coaches, while Morne Morkel was later roped in as the bowling coach.

BCCI later appointed NCA and India A team coach Sitanshu Kotak as the batting coach ahead of the white ball assignments earlier this year following the batters failure on the Test circuit at home to New Zealand and Down Under against Australia.

Gambhir and co, however, bounced back by overseeing Team India's Champions Trophy triumph. Nayar, ten Doeschate, Morkel, Dilip and Kotak were all part of the coaching staff in India's Champions Trophy-winning campaign.

Team India's support staff doesn't end with the aforementioned names, there are three throwdown specialists, two massage therapists, a senior and a junior physiotherapist, a team doctor, a security and operations manager, a computer analyst, and a few logistical and media managers.

Although all of them were part of the Indian cricket team support staff during the Champions Trophy 2025 win, the BCCI is reportedly looking to cut down the number and have a smaller coaching staff before the team tours England in a couple of months.

Some of India's top red ball talents and even players from the Test set up are likely to be part of the 'A' squad which will face the Lions in two four-day matches during the May-June window in preparation for the five-match Test series.

"The first four-day match will be hosted at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury from May 30. The second match is scheduled to begin a week later on June 6 at the County Ground in Northampton," the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.

Following the A team games which are scheduled to take place on May 30 in Canterbury and June 6 in Northampton, the senior Indian team will begin their England tour with the first Test at Headingley on June 20.