Bhubaneswar, July 27: Gautam Gambhir is all set to kick off his tenure as Team India head coach Saturday when the Men in Blue take the field against hosts Sri Lanka in the first T20I of the three-match series.
Gambhir has succeeded Indian great Rahul Dravid, who finished his stint as the head coach in style -- winning the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados last month. Dravid congratulated his former India teammate on his new innings as the head coach through an emotional message.
The Indian players, on the other hand, are enjoying their time on the field at Kandy ahead of the first T20I against Sri Lanka.
The official instagram handle of Indian cricket team has shared a video where fielding coach T Dilip is seen giving special instructions to players during thei fielding drills. And the players are taking the assignment as a fun activity to improve their 'direct hit' skills before some catching practice.
The video is captioned, "Hey you fielding drill - How so fun.. Quite a vibe in the group in this fun session at Kandy."
The video shows that Dilip has set three targets having different points to hit for the players from a certain distance. Gambhir is seen enjoying the activity with a smile on his face.
Newly-appointed T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav can be seen getting casual with teammates, including his Mumbai Indians team captain Hardik Pandya. Pandya was widely speculated to succeed Rohit Sharma as the T20I skipper after the latter's retirement. However, Gambhir and BCCI decided to go with Yadav for the role considering Pandya's consistant injury issues.
Keep aside the captaincy part, the disappointment may still be there in Pandya's heart, but on the field he is sharing laughs, enjoying the practice sessions and must be eager to give his 100 percent.
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