 "Rohit Sharma personally requested Gautam Gambhir to offer extension to a coach, report says. Image: Reuters")
Former Indian Test team captain Rohit Sharma reportedly played a crucial role in helping T Dilip secure a new contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as a fielding coach. Dilip has reportedly been given an extension by the BCCI as the Indian cricket team’s fielding coach after being informed a few weeks back that his time with the national team is over.
The news agency PTI has claimed that BCCI wanted to bring in a foreign fielding coach, but after failing to find a suitable replacement in quick time, it decided to rehire Dilip for the upcoming five-match Test tour of England that starts on 20 June.
New details, however, have emerged since then, which claim that Dilip has been given a one-year temporary extension and as a result, Ryan ten Doeschate will continue as assistant to head coach Gautam Gambhir. Ryan ten Doeschate was reportedly set to take over as fielding coach.
Gambhir pays heed to Rohit’s request
The most interesting detail to emerge is Rohit Sharma’s role in getting Dilip rehired by the BCCI. As per a report in Cricbuzz, Dilip is very close to Rohit and the former Indian Test team captain made a case for the fielding coach’s contract extension to Gambhir and the BCCI. Rohit reportedly personally requested Gambhir to continue with Dilip as a fielding coach.
Well, it seems Gambhir has paid heed to Rohit’s requests after initially deciding to remove Dilip and batting coach Abhishek Nayar from his team. Both Dilip and Nayar are very close to Rohit and they were informed in April by BCCI that they will not be getting a contract extension after May.
Nayar has since joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with whom he won the IPL 2024 title.
The Cricbuzz reports also state that the India A team, along with a few members of the Test squad, has arrived in England.