Replacing outgoing Rahul Dravid as India's new head coach on Tuesday, World Cup-winning opening batter Gautam Gambhir shared his first reaction after taking over the coaching reins. Former head coach Dravid parted ways with Rohit Sharma and Co. after India were crowned T20 World Cup champions in the Caribbean last month. With Team India's second-string side touring Zimbabwe for five T20Is, BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed the arrival of Gambhir as India's new head coach.

Gambhir has been appointed India's new head coach following an impressive season with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Returning to the Eden Gardens as the mentor of the Shah Rukh Khan co-owned franchise, Gambhir guided Shreyas Iyer's KKR side to their third IPL crown last season. Gambhir became a frontrunner after KKR lifted the famous trophy ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Wearing a different hat, Gambhir is honoured to be back!

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, the newly-appointed head coach penned a heartfelt note after joining Team India.“India is my identity and serving my country has been the greatest privilege of my life. I’m honoured to be back, albeit wearing a different hat. But my goal is the same as it has always been, to make every Indian proud. The men in blue shoulder the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians and I will do everything in my power to make these dreams come true!,” Gambhir said.

Elated to be a part of the T20 World Cup-winning side, Gambhir also thanked BCCI secretary Shah for his ‘extremely kind words and support’. Gambhir will remain India's head coach for three and a half years across all formats. Gambhir's first assignment as head coach will be the white-ball series between India and Sri Lanka. Before joining KKR for IPL 2024, Gambhir served Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as their mentor in the 2022 and 2023 seasons of the IPL. Gambhir also captained KKR to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014.

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