The Indian cricket team’s head coach Gautam Gambhir has informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that he will be flying back home from England due to ‘personal reasons’.
The Indian team is currently in England for the five-match Test series starting at Leeds from June 20. They are scheduled to play an intra-squad game today. It is learnt that the support staff will oversee the intra-squad game.
“He has informed us that he is flying back home due to personal reasons. He will join the squad at the earliest soon. He won’t be at the intra-squad game and support staff will be looking after the preparations ahead of the Test series,” a BCCI source confirmed.
The Indian team currently has Sitanshu Kotak as batting coach, Morne Morkel as bowling coach, T Dilip as fielding coach and assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate. The entire Indian team travelled to England last week. A few members of the Test squad played two warm-up games against England Lions.
On Thursday, Gambhir had made a rallying cry to the young squad led by Shubman Gill to step out of their comfort zone.
Speaking on the eve of their intra-squad, four-day practice fixture beginning in Beckenham on Friday, Gambhir asked India to embrace the challenge and make it a memorable tour.
“There are two ways of looking at this tour. One is we are without our three most experienced players or we got this phenomenal opportunity to do something special for the country,” Gambhir told bcci.tv.