| Coach | Role | Tenure / Period | Key Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gautam Gambhir | Head Coach | July 2024–Present | Appointed by BCCI as Rahul Dravid’s successor. (BCCI) |
| Rahul Dravid | Head Coach | November 2021–June 2024 | Took charge after Ravi Shastri; India won the 2024 T20 World Cup during his tenure. |
| Ravi Shastri | Head Coach | 2017–2021 | Previously served as Team Director before becoming head coach; BCCI reappointed him in 2019. |
| Anil Kumble | Head Coach | 2016–2017 | Appointed for an initial one-year term by the BCCI in June 2016. |
| Ravi Shastri | Team Director | 2014–2016 | Led the senior men’s team in the Team Director role before Kumble’s appointment. |
| Duncan Fletcher | Head Coach | 2011–2015 | Former Zimbabwe and England coach who served as India’s head coach during the early 2010s. |
| Gary Kirsten | Head Coach | 2008–2011 | Coached India during the period that included the 2011 ODI World Cup triumph. |
| Lalchand Rajput | Head Coach | 2007–2008 | Served as India’s coach during the early years of the T20 international era. |
| Greg Chappell | Head Coach | 2005–2007 | Australian former international who served as India’s head coach during this period. |
| John Wright | Head Coach | 2000–2005 | New Zealand former international and one of India’s prominent overseas coaches. |
A team’s coach plays a crucial role in a variety of ways, from overseeing player development to strategizing for high-stakes matches. A successful coach possesses a mix of experience and technical expertise to guide the players.
Ryan ten Doeschate’s tenure with India could be coming to an end, with the final ODI against England expected to be his last assignment. The former Netherlands all-rounder is reportedly leaving due to family reasons and the demands of a travel-heavy schedule. In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of India National Cricket Team Coaches.
Ryan Ten Doeschate
Ryan Ten Doeschate is a Dutch cricket coach and former player. He was the assistant coach of the India national team from 2024 to 2026. He is currently working as the head of cricket strategy for the Knight Riders Group, which includes Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, Abu Dhabi Knight Riders in the T20I format and Los Angeles Knight Riders in Major League Cricket. In this role, he oversees the scouting and recruitment operations of the group’s teams.
In a career spanning 16 years, Ten Doeschate has played over 100 one-day internationals and 47 Twenty20 Internationals for the Netherlands. He has a superb strike rate with the bat and is an excellent all-rounder, capable of bowling right-arm medium fast and surprising batsmen with his pacing. In addition to his batting skills, he also fields well. He was discovered by Essex coach Graham Gooch during a pre-season tour of South Africa in 2003, where he played for Western Province second XI. Ten Doeschate impressed with both the ball and the bat, and his ability to score big runs quickly caught the eye of Gooch. He has since gone on to play for the Essex first XI and the Netherlands national team.
The India national cricket team has had a number of coaches over the past few decades. Sunil Gavaskar was the first, leading the team in 37 Test matches and winning nine, followed by Kapil Dev in the 1980s, who captained India in 34 ODIs, including four victories. He is credited for ushering in a new era of Indian cricket, which was dominated by one-day games.
Recently, the BCCI has appointed Sairaj Bahutule as the spin bowling coach for the India national cricket team. This is his first coaching assignment with the national side, and he will be hoping to help the Indian spinners improve their performances in the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan. He is a domestic cricket stalwart who has scored over 6000 runs and taken over 600 wickets in first-class cricket. His appointment will add to the vast pool of experience in the Indian coaching staff.
Morne Morkel
After weeks of speculation, Morkel has been formally announced as the bowling coach for India. He replaced Paras Mhambrey and joins head coach Gautam Gambhir, assistant coaches Ryan ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar, and fielding coach T Dilip. Morkel is an experienced international bowler, having played 86 Tests, 117 ODIs and 44 T20Is. He has been a bowling consultant for several teams, including Pakistan and Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. It is unclear whether he will take on the role of spin coach, though it is likely that Sairaj Bahutule, who doubled as spin bowling coach on the Sri Lanka tour, will remain with the team.
Morkel made his first class debut for Easterns in the 2004-05 season, the last year of the UCB Provincial Cup before domestic cricket was restructured. He did not play in any of the first five Standard Bank Cup one-day games that season, but played a final game against Border in which he took his first five-wicket haul. He also played three four-day matches that season, taking six wickets as the team won a shield for teams knocked out of the main competition.
Sairaj Bahutule
Sairaj Bahutule, a former legspinner for Mumbai and India, has been appointed as the national cricket team’s spin bowling coach. The 53-year-old will be working with the Men in Blue’s spinners in both Test and white-ball cricket.
The Indian men’s national cricket team is a full member nation of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status. The team is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The team has won a number of major ICC tournaments, including two World Cups and one Champions Trophy.
Founded in 1907, the men’s team has played a total of 601 Test matches, winning 187 and losing 188. The team has also played in two ICC World Championship finals, with the most recent being in 2021.
The team’s best period of success came in the 1980s, under Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, who led India to a number of Test series victories over rivals England, Pakistan, Australia and South Africa. They also won a hat-trick of Asian Cups in 1988, 1991 and 1995.
As a player, Bahutule had a stop-and-start international career, representing India in two Tests and eight ODIs. However, he was prolific domestically, taking 630 wickets in 188 first-class games and 197 more in 143 List A matches.
He was a vital part of the Mumbai side that won the Ranji Trophy twice, in 1997-98 and 2008-09. He also had an enviable trophy cabinet, with six first-class titles, including three as captain.
Since retirement from playing, Bahutule has worked in the Indian domestic set-up. He was the Kerala Ranji coach for several seasons, and has also worked with Bengal, and the Rajasthan Royals in IPL. He was part of the support staff for a few India series when Rahul Dravid was head coach, before returning for a one-year stint with RR in IPL 2025. He now joins an India coaching staff that includes Gautam Gambhir as head coach, Sitanshu Kotak and Morne Morkel as fast bowling coaches and Ryan ten Doeschate as fielding coach.
Anil Kumble
Kumble’s selection as the new India coach came as a surprise to many. He had not been interviewed for the role and it was widely assumed that Kohli would get the job. However, it is understood that there were some finer points which needed to be discussed and that was the reason why Kumble was offered the position.
Kumble is a legendary spin bowler who has had a long and successful career in the game of cricket. He was a member of the India team that won the 1992 World Cup and also captained the side in two Test series against South Africa and Zimbabwe. He was one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 1993 and 1996.
He was a very economical bowler and his deliveries were full of pace, bounce, and accuracy. His trademark delivery was the googly which he delivered between his thumb and the first two fingers of his left hand. Unlike his contemporaries, he did not turn the ball much but relied mainly on speed and bounce. His ominous style and pinpoint delivery earned him the nickname “Jumbo”.
In his long and distinguished career, Kumble played a total of 457 Test matches and snared 619 wickets. He is the third highest wicket-taker in history after Muttiah Muralitharan and Kapil Dev. Kumble was also a fine ODI player and scored 337 runs in the shorter form of the game.
Towards the end of his playing career, Kumble took over as India’s Test captain in 2007. He captained the team in 14 tests, winning three and losing five and drawing six until he retired a year later.
He is now looking forward to the challenge of coaching India. His first assignment will be in the form of a four-test series against West Indies in July. This will be followed by a home series against New Zealand and then a three-test series in England. This will mark the start of a new era for India under Kumble’s leadership. This will be the first time since 2000 that an Indian has been tasked with leading the country’s most important cricket team.
