Gautam Gambhir reportedly breaks precedent, driven by desire to find ‘wild card players’ for India-England Tests – Firstpost

Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir will reportedly be travelling with the India ‘A’ team to England before the senior side begins its Test series overseas. India and England are set to play a five-match Test series, with the first game taking place at Leeds from 20 June.

The Indian cricket team doesn’t have any international assignments till the Test series against England starts, as players will be busy with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.

Gambhir to accompmnay India ‘A’ team in England

The Times of India has reported that Gambhir will be travelling with the India ‘A’ team to England before the Test series begins as he wants to assess the reserve players firsthand with an eye on the future.

“One of the crucial issues identified is reviving India ‘A’ tours. There have been only a handful ‘A’ series after Dravid left NCA and all of those were shadow tours for a marquee series. Gambhir too believes that there needs to be more ‘A’ tours. That’s why he wants to take stock of the situation firsthand,” a BCCI source told TOI.

However, it is not clear whether Gambhir will be joining the ‘A’ team as a coach or just an observer, as the senior India coach never travels with other sides. The BCCI has often sent National Cricket Academy (NCA) coaches, including head VVS Laxman on India ‘A’ and U-19 tours and they may stick with the same formula with Gambhir just being an observer.

Gambhir joining the India ‘A’ team, however, is reportedly inspired by his ambition to create a clear roadmap till the 2027 ODI World Cup.

“Gambhir has been in discussions with the BCCI since he returned from Australia. He has expressed his desire to travel with the India ‘A’ team to get a clearer view of the reserve pool,” the BCCI source added. “With India winning the Champions Trophy after Gambhir’s insistence for certain wild card players, one may expect him to assert more in future.”

The upcoming assignment for India ‘A’ now becomes even more important as players like Sai Sudharsan, Karun Nair, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Kahn, along with the pacers, will look to impress head coach Gambhir.

Team India had lost both of their last two Test series, and it’s certain that they are heading towards a transition.