2 weeks Ago By Firstpost
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has wielded the axe on the Indian cricket team’s support staff after a disastrous Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia. Team India lost the Test series in Australia 3-1, their first in the last three tours. They followed it up with white-ball series wins over England at home and the Champions Trophy 2025 victory in Dubai , but these victories have reportedly not helped the cases of a few coaches in the support staff.
Team India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, fielding coach T Dilip, strength and conditioning coach Soham Desai and a team masseur have reportedly been sacked by the BCCI, a report in India Today claimed. While Dilip was a part of Team India support staff even under coach Rahul Dravid, Nayar was added only nine months back when Gautam Gambhir became the new head coach. Besides Nayar, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate and bowling coach Morne Morkel were also added to the support staff after Gambhir’s appointment.
This is not the first time BCCI has acted against Gambhir’s handpicked support staff. Earlier in January, the board had appointed NCA and India A coach Sitanshu Kotak as India’s batting coach . The report further added that Ryan ten Doeschate will now also function as the fielding coach in Dilip’s absence.
A report in Dainik Jagran says that Punjab Kings’ sports scientist Adrian le Roux will join Team India after the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 as a replacement for the strength and conditioning coach Desai. By making wholesale changes to India’s support staff, BCCI has sent a strong signal to the coaches that poor overseas performances will not be tolerated. The first assignment for the rejigged support staff will be the five-match Test series in England, which starts in June.
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