India’s Gautam Gambhir has been facing the heat after India went down to South Africa in the first Test by 30 runs at the Eden Garden, Kolkata. With the Proteas sitting in a commanding position in the ongoing second Test at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati it has only doubled. They are now on the verge of losing their first home Test series against the Proteas since 1999/2000.
Gambhir, it has to be mentioned here, has not covered himself in too much glory with the Test side after he took over as India’s coach in 2024 post T20 World Cup. The 44-year-old started the job on a high when India swept past Bangladesh 2-0 only to be thrashed by New Zealand 3-0. The team then flew to Australia but they lost out the series 1-3 without returning back with what was hoped a hat-trick of wins Down Under. The Men in Blue would then stand witness to a new era under Shubman Gill as he took over the charge from Rohit Sharma. The Punjab born player set the example as India salvaged a 2—2 draw in a five-match series in England before completing a series win at home against West Indies, 2—0.
But India’s batting has once again come under the scanner (versus spin and left-arm seamers) for their below-par performance in two Tests against South Africa. The Men in Blue though were unable to chase down a target of 124 runs in the opening game. The home side was then dismissed for 201 in the first innings of the second Test, where Temba Bavuma’s men accumulated 489 in their first essay.
Yadav and Co haven’t yet lost a T20I series under Gambhir’s watch but the Indian team here have already lost two of the three ODI series. The Men in Blue, meanwhile, lost two overseas ODI series 1-2 – against Sri Lanka (2024) and Australia (2025). That being said, India claimed the home series against England 3-0 and also emerged as victorious in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy when he was his coach.
It may be note, however, that India’s next Test engagement is in Sri Lanka in August 2026 and Gautam Gambhir finds his place on test scrutiny. Here we have a look at five potential candidates, who might replace Shastri as the new head coach of Team India:
1. VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman, the current head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), has been a backup head coach to India in a number of occasions. In 2022, he coached the team three times in Ireland in T20Is, at the Asia Cup and in the tour of New Zealand to play the white-ball series. In 2024, he also took the team to Asian Games and T20Is in South Africa and Zimbabwe. India won their T20I series during his coaching tenure including the gold in the Asian games.
Besides that Laxman is also the coach of the U19 and India A side hence he would be the best candidate to replace the key post held by Gautam Gambhir.
2. Sourav Ganguly
The next Indian captain who can replace Rahul Dravid as a coach of Team India could be Sourav Ganguly, coach of the SA20 Pretoria Capitals team. Outside of Pretoria, Ganguly had been an advisor of the Delhi Capitals in 2019. In 2024, the former captain returned to the side as a mentor. He is also the Director of Cricket of DC in 2023 (WPL) and 2024 (WPL and IPL).
Other than experience in BCCI chairman and the enumerated assignments, Ganguly has captained India in 195 matches (Tests and ODIs). The former cricketer-administrator is now leading the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Gautam Gambhir may leave his position at CAB, and he might want to pursue a different position elsewhere since he can be a viable candidate to replace him.
3. Andy Flower
Andy Flower — the former Zimbabwe captain who coached several teams around the world as well as two short stints in IPL franchises. These are the Punjab Kings (assistant), the Lucknow Super Giants (head coach) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with whom he clinched a head coach trophy in 2025. The 57 year old has also coached the English national team (assistant coach and team director) between 2007 to 2014 in different roles.
The Ashes were won by England on three occasions during his tenure (2009, 2010/2011 and 2013). The England cricket team also claimed the T20 World Cup in 2010 in West Indies. His other forays were with Peshawar Zalmi (2016) and then the Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super league, St Lucia Zouks in Caribbean Premier League (2020), Gulf Giants in International league T20 (2022) and finally Trent Rockets (The Hundred 2021-25). He is currently the London Spirit head coach since 2026 season.
4. Mahela Jayawardena
Sri Lanka was brought to the 2014 T20 World Cup under the command of Mahela Jayawardena. Another potential substitute to Gautam Gambhir may be former Sri Lanka captain, Mahela Jayawardena. Indeed, Mumbai Indians (MI), a team managed by him in IPL franchise, has won the tournament in 2017, 2019, and 2020. The 48 year old has also been involved in international teams such as England (batting consultant), West Indies (head coach) and Sri Lanka (consultant coach). Other than the above, he has played a few games with the Khulna Titans (Bangladesh Premier League) and the Southern Brave (The Hundred).
Similar to Ganguly, Jayawardena has managed his country team in 126 matches, including the Sri Lankan virgin T20 World Cup victory in 2014. In the previous year, he returned to MI earlier than the 2025 IPL season. Jayawardena is the most desirable foreign coach to Team India with three IPL titles. Consequently, the BCCI may attempt to enlist Jayawardena in case they will opt to return to foreign coaches after Duncan Fletcher (2011 to 2015).
5. Tom Moody
Australian cricketer Tom Moody has won the IPL 2016 trophy with the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH). He has also played with Punjab Kings (2008-2010) in the IPL, although briefly, with SRH (2013-2019). Other than coaching, he returned to SRH as the Director of Cricket before IPL 2021. In 2014, the 60-year-old has also played the same role with the Melbourne Renegades. The experienced has taken over Zaheer Khan as the international director of cricket at LSG.
The initial major engagement of Moody was with Sri Lanka whom he coached between the years of 2005 and 2007 and the team managed to make it to the final of the World Cup in 2007. The 60 year old had also worked as a coach in Rangpur Riders (Bangladesh Premier League), Multan Sultans (Pakistan Super league), Montreal Tigers (GT20 Canada), and Western Australia (KFC Twenty20 Big Bash).
