Gautam Gambhir will make his highly-anticipated debut as head coach of the Indian team during the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, starting July 26. Gambhir's appointment as head coach was made official earlier this week, after Rahul Dravid's tenure came to an end last month following the T20 World Cup triumph. Gambhir arrives at the helm with high expectations, especially after he masterminded Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL-winning campaign earlier this year. The former India opener developed a great partnership with head coach Chandrakant Pandit and captain Shreyas Iyer as KKR ended a 10-year wait to lift the IPL title.
Ahead of Gambhir's debut series, KKR captain Iyer was seen sweating it out. Iyer was not considered for selection for the T20 World Cup, while he was also ignored by the selectors for the ongoing tour of Zimbabwe.
However, Gambhir's appointment could be a huge turning point in Iyer's career, with the star batter also without a central contract. In a viral video, Iyer was seen training with the rain hammering down.
Iyer had a torrid time prior to the IPL as he was dropped by BCCI from the Central Contracts list.
He skipped a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai as he claimed he was having a back issue. However, reports claimed the NCA gave a contradictory fitness report on him. During this time, several media publications have claimed, Shreyas Iyer attended a pre-IPL camp with Kolkata Knight Riders.
"I had a terrific World Cup and I wanted to take a break after that and wanted to work on my body and build some strength around certain area. Due to lack of communication, there were some decisions, that didn't go in my favour," Shreyas Iyer said on his YouTube channel.
"But I realised that the bat is going to be in my hand and it's on me to perform and win trophies. I decided that once I win Ranji Trophy and IPL that would be an apt answer for whatever happened in the past and thankfully everything fell to right place. I am grateful, how it happened."