Until Monday, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir was not only the frontrunner to replace Rahul Dravid for the role of head coach in the Indian men's cricket team but was also the only Indian contender for the role. There were reports clearly indicating that the BCCI had already struck a deal with Gambhir, which is expected to be officially announced later this month, after the end of India's campaign in the ongoing 2024 T20 World Cup. But the former Indian opener found a new competitor in the form of the vastly experienced WV Raman, who was also interviewed by the BCCI's Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) on Tuesday.
Raman, a veteran of 28 international matches, has a lot of experience in the field of coaching. He has more experience as a coach than Gambhir, who has mentored only two IPL franchises in the last three seasons, one of which, Kolkata Knight Riders, has won the trophy.
After retiring from the game, Raman coached Tamil Nadu and Bengal in the domestic circuit before moving to the IPL, where he served as assistant coach at the Punjab franchise in 2013 and batting coach for KKR. He was also the head coach of the Indian women's cricket team between 2018 and 2021. Not to forget, Gambhir himself had sought Raman's help to find his form in 2013 before they met again in the KKR camp in 2014, the season he won his second IPL trophy.
A fresh report by News18 on Wednesday indicated that given Raman's experience and his impressive interview for the head coach role, the BCCI is likely to sign both the candidates.
A source privy to developments told the website, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India should look at using the services of both Raman and Gambhir. There are many ways to do that – like making Gambhir the head coach and Raman the batting coach or allowing Raman to have more of a say in the red-ball game. There are many ways to use them as both can benefit Indian cricket and that is the way to look at.”
It will be a big dilemma for the CAC members comprising Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjpe and Sulakshana Naik to choose between Gambhir and Raman. The report further states that there were rumours that a foreign candidate would also be interviewed for the role, but that has not happened yet, leaving the race between the two Indian options.