Gautam Gambhir is the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team. The BCCI appointed him on 9 July 2024, succeeding Rahul Dravid, whose final assignment was India’s 2024 T20 World Cup win. Since then India have won the 2025 Champions Trophy, the 2025 Asia Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup, though the Test side has had a harder time.
Here is how India’s coaching job has changed hands, from the tour managers of the 1970s to Gambhir.
Gautam Gambhir (2024 to date)
Gambhir came to the job after mentoring Kolkata Knight Riders to the 2024 IPL title. His first ICC event as coach was the 2025 Champions Trophy, which India won by beating New Zealand by four wickets in the final in Dubai. India then beat Pakistan by five wickets in the 2025 Asia Cup final, and beat New Zealand by 96 runs at Ahmedabad in the 2026 T20 World Cup final, so they held the T20 title they had won under Dravid.
The Test results have been mixed. India lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand in October and November 2024, their first home Test series defeat since 2012. They then lost the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 in Australia. They drew 2-2 in England in 2025 and lost 2-0 at home to South Africa in November 2025.
Rahul Dravid (2021 to 2024)
Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri after the 2021 T20 World Cup, having coached India’s under-19 and India A sides and run the National Cricket Academy. Under him India reached the 2023 World Test Championship final and the 2023 ODI World Cup final, losing both to Australia, before winning the T20 World Cup in June 2024 with a seven-run win over South Africa in the final at Bridgetown. As a batter he scored 13,288 Test runs, the fifth-most in history and one fewer than Jacques Kallis.
India’s coaches through the years
Back in the days, India did not have a full-time coach but had a manager that travelled with the squad. In 1971, Keki Tarapore was appointed as the manager and is widely considered India’s first coach. He held the job for a year, before army man Hemu Adhikari took over.
In the next decade, there were numerous changes in the role at the helm, with mainly former cricketers taking up the duty. One such First Class cricketer PR Man Singh was the manager when India lifted the first World Cup in 1983.
It wasn’t until 1992 when long term contracts were handed to coaches instead of managerial roles on a tour-wise basis.
Ajit Wadekar, Madan Lal, Sandeep Patil, Anshuman Gaekwad and World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev held the position in the 1990s.
In 2000, John Wright became India’s first foreign coach. The New Zealander took charge when Indian cricket was going through a turmoil on account of the match-fixing scandal.
Wright forged a fruitful partnership with the newly appointed captain Sourav Ganguly and took Indian cricket to new heights by nurturing youngsters like Harbhajan Singh,Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Mohammad Kaif, and Ashish Nehra.
The formidable coach-captain pairing took India to a historic 2-1 Test series win against Australia at home, drew a test series 1-1 in Australia, and guided India to the final of the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Team India has had four foreign coaches so far, with John Wright enjoying the longest stint as a foreign coach (2000-2005).
Greg Chappell was the next coach for Team India but his tenure proved to be rather unpleasant following his turbulent times with skipper Sourav Ganguly, who was asked to step down from captaincy citing poor form.
India reached its highest point in the 21st century under Gary Kirsten as he guided India to World Cup glory in 2011, ending a 28-year wait for the trophy. The former South African also commanded India to the No. 1 Test spot for the first time in 2010.
Duncan Fletcher, Anil Kumble and Ravi Shastri held the roles before Shastri was appointed again in 2017.
Interestingly, Ravi Shastri and Ashok Mankad are the only coaches who have served in multiple stints.
Ravi Shastri helped India reach the WTC final and delivered overseas Test victories in Australia and England but failed to win a world title.
India cricket team coaches since 2000
| Coach | Tenure | Country |
| John Wright | 2000 – 2005 | New Zealand |
| Greg Chappell | 2005 – 2007 | Australia |
| Lalchand Rajput | 2007 – 2008 | India |
| Gary Kirsten | 2008 – 2011 | South Africa |
| Duncan Fletcher | 2011 – 2015 | Zimbabwe |
| Ravi Shastri | 2015 – 2016 | India |
| Sanjay Bangar | 2016 – 2016 | India |
| Anil Kumble | 2016 – 2017 | India |
| Ravi Shastri | 2017 – 2021 | India |
| Rahul Dravid | 2021 – 2024 | India |
| Gautam Gambhir | 2024 – present | India |
Featured photo: Ian Kington / AFP