Photo Credit: Instagram Photos of @mornemorkel65 and @gautamgambhir55
Gautam Gambhir has encountered resistance from the BCCI in selecting his support staff members, with five of his recommendations being rejected so far.
Unlike his predecessors, Gambhir is finding it difficult to finalize his support staff, facing opposition from the BCCI for most of his choices. Morne Morkel was reportedly his latest recommendation for the bowling coach position, but the BCCI turned down the proposal.
Gambhir was eager to include the former South African speedster, who served as Pakistan’s bowling coach during the last ODI World Cup and is currently with IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants in a similar role.
According to a report in The Economic Times, the BCCI rejected this proposal, making it the third time they have declined Gambhir’s pick for the bowling coach, following rejections of R Vinay Kumar and Laximipathy Balaji.
Additionally, Gambhir’s recommendations for the fielding coach position, Ryan ten Doeschate and Jonty Rhodes, were also turned down by the board.
Typically, the BCCI grants the head coach considerable autonomy in selecting their support staff, a practice that has been in place for ages. For instance, during the tenures of Greg Chappell and Gary Kirsten, they included relatively lesser-known figures like Ian Frazer and Paddy Upton in their teams.
This approach remained largely unchanged under Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri, and Rahul Dravid. Shastri notably disregarded recommendations from the then-Cricket Advisory Committee, comprised of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman – choosing his own staff instead. Similarly, Dravid selected Paras Mhambrey and T Dilip as the bowling and fielding coaches, respectively, both of whom he had previously worked with at the NCA.
