Gautam Gambhir was appointed the new Indian cricket team head coach as Rahul Dravid‘s tenure came to an end following the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph. Gambhir, who is well known for his passionate and disciplinarian approach to coaching, was the mentor of Lucknow Super Kings in 2022 and 2023 before joining Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024 – a partnership that resulted in the IPL 2024 title win. Following the announcement, LSG shared a spoof video showing Gambhir’s first practice session as the Indian cricket team head coach. The video featured old footage from the time when he was a part of the franchise and also a special appearance from fast bowler Mohsin Khan.

Kursi ki peti bandhne ka waqt aa gaya haipic.twitter.com/e1RkagVWx0

— Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) July 10, 2024

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as the next head coach was hailed by the Indian cricket fraternity, which has no doubts whatsoever that he would make the country “proud”.

Less than two weeks after Rahul Dravid’s tenure ended on a high, winning the T20 World Cup, India’s first global title after 11 years, Gambhir was appointed as the head coach on expected lines.

The BCCI had approached him after he won the IPL title for KKR after 10 years, returning as mentor this season. Gambhir was also the two-time IPL winning skipper for KKR in 2012 and 2014.

The announcement was merely a formality after National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman expressed his unwillingness to take the hot seat.

His IPL franchise made an AI-generated image of Gambhir in a BCCI suit, staring at the KKR jersey lying on the table with the IPL silverware.

The wall had the photos of their wins in 2012 and 2014, while TV flashed the news of his appointment as Gambhir stood near a packed suitcase.

Team India jerseys were also seen hanging in the wardrobe.

KKR captioned the photo with an old quote of Gambhir: “There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team.” Team CEO Venky Mysore also reposted it with his message: “Very proud of you Gambhir. No doubt you will make India proud.” Gambhir’s era will begin with a white-ball series in Sri Lanka. India will play three ODIS and as many T20Is beginning on July 27.

“Few have seen the road from playing for India to coaching India. Yours has been a journey that I’ve had the privilege of seeing up close – all the hard yards that you’ve had to cross. So well deserved Gambhir. Make us proud, once again,” former India pacer RP Singh posted on X.

(With IANS inputs)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) every year bring the best of cricket talents around the world in one place. This is one tournament which top names around the world do not want to miss. The high salary as well as the exposure make IPL a lucrative tournament. Along with top players, the coaches list in the IPL is also a high-profile one. Justin Langer is part of that list. He was the coach of the Lucknow Super Giants. Being part of the high-profile franchise, owned by Sanjiv Goenka, Langer traversed the country and soaked in the cricket atmosphere. 

He was quite taken aback by the hero worship of MS Dhoni across the country.  

“It’s extraordinary. I heard about it first; then we played them [CSK] twice. They came to Lucknow, and our capacity crowd [in Ekana Stadium] is about 50,000, and honestly, there would have been 48,000 MS Dhoni number seven shirts. I couldn’t believe it, and then we went to CSK, and there wasn’t 98%; there was 100%. And it’s unbelievable. The hero worship in India is unbelievable,” said Langer while speaking on the weekly cricket podcast from BBC Sport.

“And look, I felt it when we played in India before as a player, particularly with Sachin Tendulkar. Then, when I was coaching with [Australia], Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni, But when you get over there, it’s unbelievable.

He went on to say that the hero worship has its flip-side as well. 

“I saw the flip side of it as well actually, because Rohit Sharma is a huge hero in India as their captain. And what happened with Mumbai Indians this year? Hardik Pandya took over as the captain from Rohit Sharma, the much loved Rohit Sharma and it was really sad to watch. He got booed every game, that is the vice-captain of the Indian cricket team,” Langer said. 

“I learned this from Morne Morkel and Jonty Rhodes. They have been before. They told me that rather than getting upset just go with the flow. I sort of tried to explain, imagine in the EPL, in England and every single person turned up to every game in a David Beckham shirt. Yeah, it doesn’t happen, does it? It’s not even in our psychic. Like in every other country, it doesn’t make sense.”

Langer then went on to praise MS Dhoni. “But I was also taken by MS’ humility. When he walks onto the ground, he is co calm. I think it’s bit of a MS Dhoni that is happening around the world in terms of captaincy,” he said.

File photo of Irfan Pathan© BCCI/Sportzpics

Eat, sleep. bowl and repeat. Avesh Khan has simplified the mantra of success and it is paying dividends as one saw his performances during key games for Rajasthan Royals in this year’s IPL. With 16 wickets from 15 matches, mostly played on flat decks, an economy rate of 9.81 is praiseworthy and his control at the death has made him look a different bowler this time around. “I have simplified my cricket — I have to sleep (well), I have to eat (well) and I have to bowl (well) and there is nothing else to it,” said Avesh, who took a three-for to help Rajasthan Royals reach Qualifier 2 in IPL here on Wednesday.

“The more you would think… cricket is like a circle, the smaller you keep it, the better it will be. You expand this circle more and you will find (more and more) gaps,” he added.

“This has changed my life too and also impacted my cricket,”he said.

The 27-year-old, who is among India’s reserve players for next month’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA, on Wednesday revealed that analysing his strengths and weaknesses after a heavy domestic season followed by IPL last year helped him find the better version of himself.

“Last year when I played for LSG, I had played 10 matches of Ranji Trophy wherein I bowled about 320 overs. The body was not responding to the efforts I was putting in,” he said.

He also needed to be aware that playing too much can cause wear and tear.

“It happens, sometimes as a bowler you just end up playing so much. Even in the IPL, you may think that it’s a four-over game or a 20-over game but still, there is a lot of effort that goes in. The body starts giving up and there are mental and physical fatigues too,” he added.

“Your execution could go off the mark, but if you are mentally and physically fresh you will be able to execute better. I was not fresh last year so I did not have a successful IPL. I (also) realised later that there is no good in taking so much tension,” he added.

Avesh said going back to the drawing board and working with his coach in order to work on his bowling action and setting up right routines for training and recovery have helped him immensely.

“I could not find the answers back then, but after the IPL last year, I analysed that there were some technical changes in my bowling. I worked with my coach Anand Rajan and I did well with him,” he said.

“I played in the Deodhar Trophy and Duleep Trophy which was followed by my comeback into the Indian team.” Avesh said leaving LSG for Rajasthan Royals also had specific benefits for him as a bowler.

“I understood my body and when the trade was made this year, I was also happy because anything can happen to you at any time in IPL,” said Avesh.

“The trade was not in my hands, but I took it positively, and Rajasthan’s (home) ground is also quite big, the team is also good… as a bowler you need such margins,” he said.

While acknowledging that various methods help player develop mental toughness, Avesh said there is no better teacher than going through the grind regularly.

“I get up only at 2:00pm on match days so there is no time to think that much,” Avesh replied when asked what he does to develop mental toughness.

“You can do whatever you can to build mental toughness but until you are not in a position to have faced the challenges repeatedly, you cannot overcome them. I acknowledge all that, but when (as a batter) you need 10-12 runs in an over, you forget everything and focus on execution,” he added.

The pacer acknowledged RR’s dugout was tense during a close finish against RCB in the Eliminator here but he said the team perhaps remembered head coach Kumar Sangakkara’s message before the game.

“The talk was simple — either we would win or go back home. We had to give it our all,” he said.

“We were top two till the last game of the (league stage) and we finished third. (Kumar) Sangakkara said whether we win or lose, there should not be any regrets,” Avesh added.

IPL 2024: Gautam Gambhir is the mentor of Kolkata Knight Riders© Twitter

After finishing their disastrous campaign at the bottom of the points table, Mumbai Indians (MI) head coach Mark Boucher acknowledged the team’s difficulties while emphasising the need for patience and careful consideration before making changes. After losing to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by 18 runs, Mumbai’s Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season came to an abrupt end, finishing last in the IPL standings. Boucher addressed Hardik Pandya’s captaincy and batting struggles and acknowledged the all-rounder’s leadership potential.

The MI head coach believes Pandya will learn from this experience and emerge a stronger leader.

Hardik had one of his worst seasons with both bat and ball and his captaincy also received criticism in the end.

“Even Hardik would’ve been disappointed with his performance. From a captain’s perspective, he had some excellent games,” Boucher said in a post-match press conference.

Boucher believes Pandya will grow as a leader and gain knowledge from this experience.

“There’s a lot of stuff going around him that clouds his thoughts now and again, which is also challenging for him as a leader. He certainly had a lot of support within our dressing room, and guys are trying to help him out, but it is tricky to go through as a player. It is what it is, and it will undoubtedly be a learning curve for him with his leadership growth. While times are tough now, some things will pass, and he’ll be a tougher leader. So, some fantastic things are coming for Hardik Pandya as a leader,” he added.

“He came into the season with little cricket behind him, so it would always be reasonably tough on him. We understood that as well. His bowling got a lot better as the season went along. Unfortunately, he didn’t fire with the bat this season. He showed glimpses of what he can do,” the MI head coach said.

Regarding Pandya’s captaincy and his own future, Boucher stayed tight-lipped but underlined that important decisions should always be made after a cool-headed assessment.

“With regards to my stuff, I’m not too sure where I’m going, to be honest. As I said, it’s early days at the moment. A lot of people are emotional. There’s probably going to be discussions about all of us. I don’t think there’s only one person. We’re in a high-performance zone, and when you underperform, you need to get looked at,” he added.

“So, the only thing I can do as a coach is give my best, precisely what I’ve done. I’ve got no regrets about what I’ve done here. Could I have done things better? We’ll sit down and evaluate that, as we do with all the players as well,” he stated.

Concerns have been raised by MI’s subpar performance over the last three years and Boucher agreed that a comprehensive analysis was necessary on the five-time IPL champions’ form.

“Yeah, it’s disappointing. After our auction, we identified our bowlers as something we wanted to strengthen, and we felt that we did that. At the beginning of the season, losing two players wasn’t great for us, but we still had some great options. So yeah, on paper, I thought we’d do much better than we’ve done. We just haven’t managed to combine our batting and bowling in one single match. One has always let the other down, which is unfortunate,” Boucher said.

“This is a cause for concern, and it is certainly something that we need to address as a franchise. I’m sure we will. Mumbai Indians is a very successful franchise for a reason. When you see trends like that, then you sit down, and you evaluate every season. You do a review, and if there are trends that are happening each year, then you do have to sit down and make some changes and make some big calls, which I know for a fact that we’re okay with doing,” said the MI coach.

In just 14 IPL 2024 matches, Hardik amassed 216 runs, including a 46-run maximum. The all-rounder’s season began to fall apart quite early on, with an average of just 18 and a strike rate of 143.05.

Despite taking 11 wickets with the ball throughout the season, his economy rate was 10.75 and his average was 35.18.

Being the India head coach is one of the biggest assignments in cricket world and former Australia head coach Justin Langer believes that it could be very exhausting if the timing isn’t right for the incumbent. Langer, who coached Lucknow Super Giants during this IPL season was asked multiple times about his aspirations to become India head coach, a post set to be vacated by Rahul Dravid after T20 World Cup in the Americas. “It would almost be the biggest job in cricket — being the head coach of the Indian cricket team,” Langer replied when asked if the Indian board had approached him for taking on the mantle.

“One, because of the huge volume of cricket, the huge expectation. It would be a great challenge. It would be great fun and it would be a wonderful opportunity to win ICC titles,” Langer told the media in Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium after Lucknow Super Giants beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in their last IPL match of the season.

Langer cited immense pressure and workload that comes along being an India coach, while adding that it has not been too long since he held a similar role with Australia.

“But with all these things, the timing has got to be right. I did four or so years with the Australian cricket team. It is all encompassing. It is exhausting,” said the 53-year-old.

“Rahul Dravid will probably tell you the same thing and Ravi Shastri will probably tell you the same thing. The pressure on winning for the Indian team is massive,” he said.

He did drop a hint that he might not be mentally ready to commit 10 months a year for the job.

“I’m sure the next person who gets the job will be really looking forward to the project,” Langer added.

IPL is as big as a World Cup

Langer likened pressure in IPL with that of a World Cup competition, adding that it is the best domestic competition in the world.

“I would say categorically — it is the best domestic competition in the world. I can’t get over how tough the competition is. There’s so many good players. There’s so many good teams. There’s so much pressure on performance,” he said.

“I guess the biggest thing is, it is just really tough cricket. It is like a World Cup. It is honestly like the same sort of pressure as a World Cup, and I’ve been to a few World Cups now.

“That’s a great credit to the IPL that we’re able to keep producing such fun, entertaining, evolving cricket in front of a capacity crowd with noise every game. And there’s a game on every night.

“I’m sad to go home. I’m going home on the weekend. I’m actually really sad to go home. I’ve loved it that much,” he added.

Langer admitted World Cup selection for LSG players in their respective national sides could have been a distraction.

“I’ve had this sense that since the World Cup selection — and there is always distractions every IPL — but things seem to change a little bit,” he said.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened, but we had a couple of poor games and it is cost us. We played some really good cricket. We started off well. I was warned about May; everyone’s up and about in April, but how you go through May is very important in the IPL.

“(It is) something that we did fall away, we’ll sort of analyse it as well as we can, but it is been disappointing because we had a very good team. We missed a few injuries to our bowlers, which made a difference,” said Langer while adding that dropped catches ‘killed’ his side this season.

Standing by KL Rahul, the batter

Langer, however, backed Rahul despite consistent criticism over his batting strike rate.

“I’ve heard the criticism, but you know, everyone does it differently. We can’t all have, often if you play at a strike rate of 160 or 70 — it is very high risk cricket,” Langer said.

“The game is evolving and he will evolve and players will have to keep evolving. We’ve seen that with the opening partnerships in the powerplays this year. I mean, the strike rates have been extraordinary, right?” “He, like the great players, will keep evolving. All the best players and best coaches keep getting better. He’ll keep doing that,” Langer added.

Langer said only Rahul could tell if he was disappointed on being excluded from India squad for the World Cup.

“You’d have to ask KL that, but if you look at his numbers throughout the series, it is a pretty good series. Actually, it is a very good series. We’re one game off being in the playoffs next week,” Langer added.

Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants’ IPL 2024 campaign ended on Friday. Both teams could not qualify for the playoffs. For Mumbai Indians, the removal of Rohit Sharma became a news and its impact hounded them till the last match. Current captain Hardik Pandya was booed and clearly he didn’t enjoy the support of the MI fans. For LSG, though they came close to the playoffs, an animated discussion between owner Sanjiv Goenka and skipper KL Rahul garnered a lot of negative publicity.

In their last game, LSG beat MI in the teams’ last match of the IPL 2024. Post that, Goenka had a lengthy chat with Rohit. The visuals of it started speculation on the internet. 

There has been speculation that Rohit might leave MI this year.

Sanjiv Goenka asked Rohit Sharma mobile number and saved his number. What’s cooking here??

Rohit Sharma in LSG… #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/sPN27HitWv

— Mufa Kohli (@MufaKohli) May 17, 2024

Sanjiv Goenka inviting Rohit Sharma for Dinner at his home and Rohit Sharma can’t deny. #rohitsharma pic.twitter.com/KhUArnuLwb

— Mufa Kohli (@MufaKohli) May 17, 2024

Sanjiv Goenka having a conversation with Rohit Sharma. #RohitSharma #MIvsLSG pic.twitter.com/RjTTqwhSqh

— Shamim. (@ShamimCricSight) May 17, 2024

Rohit Sharma with LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka . pic.twitter.com/afIZZFYEKn

— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) May 17, 2024

Rohit Sharma admitted he could not live up to the batting standards expected from him in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 for Mumbai Indians, adding that despite his poor outing, his focus was to be in the right zone and work to iron out his flaws. Rohit, who was replaced by Hardik Pandya as MI’s skipper ahead of the 2024 season, ended his tournament with a stunning 38-ball 68. Overall, Rohit amassed 417 runs in 14 innings at an average of 32.08 and a strike-rate of 150, including a century and fifty.

“As a batter, I know I didn’t live up to the standard. But, after playing for all these years, I know that if I overthink, I won’t play well. All I try is to stay in a good mindset, in the right zone, keep practicing, and improve on all the flaws in my game. That’s all I kept doing,” Rohit told JioCinema.

MI had a below-par time in IPL 2024, ending with an 18-run defeat to Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, to conclude their season at the bottom of the points table.

“Our season didn’t go according to plan. We blame ourselves for this because we made too many mistakes during the season. We lost many games that we should have won, but that’s the nature of the IPL. You get a few chances and when those chances come, you must grab them,” added Rohit.

His next assignment will be to captain India in the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA. India will play their only warm-up match against Bangladesh on June 1, before opening their campaign against Ireland on June 5 at the 34,000-seat modular Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.

With IANS inputs

Rohit Sharma in action© BCCI

Mumbai Indian (MI) opener Rohit Sharma received a special medal after playing an explosive knock of 68 runs in a match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. MI fans had mixed emotions on a bittersweet evening at the Wankhede Stadium. While they were thrilled with Rohit’s explosive knock of 68 runs, they also witnessed their team suffer their 10th loss of the year and drop to the bottom of the points table. Rohit was presented the special medal by team Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani at the MI dressing room.

The former MI skipper broke a run of poor scores when he struck an incredible 68 off 38 deliveries in the Mumbai match against LSG.

In a video posted by MI on their official social media handle X, MI head coach Mark Boucher was seen praising the former skipper.

तोडफोड from the get-go, a ???????????????????????????? ???????? ???????????????????????????????????????????? was on display in #MIvLSG ????????#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/sddic4we6i

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 18, 2024

“And in the batting guys, Rohit great start today. Well done,” MI head coach Boucher said in front of the MI squad.

Coming to the match, Rohit and Naman Dhir’s fiery knocks went in vain as MI conceded an 18-run loss against LSG in the IPL 2024 match at the Wankhede Stadium.

After winning the toss MI sent LSG to bat first but that did not go in their favour as KL Rahul (55 runs from 41 balls, 3 fours and 3 sixes) and Nicholas Pooran (75 runs from 29 balls, 5 fours and 8 sixes) played a fiery knock in the first inning. Marcus Stoinis (28 runs from 22 balls, 5 fours) and Ayush Badoni (22* runs from 10 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) were the other standout batters for LSG as they propelled the visitors to 214/6.

In the run chase, the hosts had a stupendous start while chasing a 215-run target but after the end of the fourth over, rain played a spoilsport for which the game was halted for a few minutes. However, that did not break the MI openers’ momentum as Rohit Sharma (68 runs from 38 balls, 10 fours and 3 sixes) and Dewald Brevis (23 runs from 20 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) played a partnership of 88 runs.

Naman Dhir’s (62* runs from 28 balls, 4 fours and 5 sixes) stunning knock in the later half of the run chase shed a ray of hope on the MI dugout as they thought the hosts could win the match but he failed to clinch a win in the end and conceded a 18-run loss.