"There is no plan to remove Gautam Gambhir": Rajeev Shukla quashes reports of change in Test coach

New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) vice-president Rajeev Shukla has denied reports about the board considering replacing or appointing a new head coach in place of Gautam Gambhir in the Test format.
Earlier, media reports indicated that former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman had been approached to become India's next Test coach, replacing Gambhir.
The media reports came after India suffered a 0-2 Test whitewash at home by South Africa under Gautam Gambhir, their second whitewash in back-to-back years, following a humiliating 0-3 loss to New Zealand last year under the same coach.
The NZ whitewash cost a once well-settled India a place in the ICC World Test Championship 2025 final, and the latest setback to the Proteas could also end up costing them a berth in the marquee one-off Test championship clash, depending on how further results go.
Reacting to media reports, BCCI vice-president Shukla has made clear that Gambhir will not be removed as head coach of the Indian Test team.
"I want to make it very clear regarding the speculation circulating in the media about head coach Gautam Gambhir. The BCCI secretary (Devajit Saikia) has also made it very clear that there is no plan to remove Gambhir or bring in a new head coach for India," Shukla told ANI.
Earlier, speaking to ANI, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said the board has not taken any steps to change the leadership group in the longest format of the game.
"This is totally incorrect news going on. This is totally speculative news. Some very reputed news agencies are also flashing the news. There is no truth to it. BCCI straight away denies. People can think all they want, but BCCI has not taken any steps. This is somebody's figment of imagination; there is no truth in it, and I cannot say anything except that this is factually incorrect and baseless news," Saikia said.
Now, India's most significant challenge for a while is not Test cricket, but defending their T20 World Cup crown, won under Rohit Sharma's captaincy last year, with a new-look team led by Suryakumar Yadav in the tournament starting on February 7.
India will start off their campaign against the USA on the same day in Mumbai and have been placed alongside Pakistan, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA in Group A.
While the young Indian team has displayed a golden standard of T20I cricket for the most part this year in their unbeaten run across all the series, playing their first T20 World Cup in the absence of stalwarts Rohit and Virat for the first time in several years in front of a home crowd would be an interesting challenge. (ANI)