Greatest privilege to serve Indian cricket: Gautam Gambhir

NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed India head coach Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday said it would be an "absolute honour to serve the tricolour" in the high-profile position and he would do "everything in his power" to deliver good results for the team.

Gambhir, one of the heroes of India's 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, took over the responsibilities of the Indian team following the departure of Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup triumph recently.

"India is my identity and serving my country has been the greatest privilege of my life. I'm honoured to be back, albeit wearing a different hat. But my goal is the same as it has always been, to make every Indian proud.

"The men in blue shoulder the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians and I will do everything in my power to make these dreams come true!," said Gambhir in a post on 'X'.

Gambhir, who also captained IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders to two title triumphs and then returned as mentor in 2024 to guide them to a third IPL trophy, also congratulated Dravid for his stellar three-year tenure.

"It is an absolute honour to serve my tricolour, my people, my country. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Rahul Dravid and his team of support staff for their exemplary run with the team. I am honoured and excited to take on the role of Head Coach for Team India."

Gambhir said he was looking forward to working with some of the leading luminaries of cricket, including National Cricket Academy chief VVS Laxman, to take Indian cricket forward.

"I have always taken pride while donning the Indian jersey during my playing days and it is going to be no different when I take up this new role.

"Cricket has been my passion and I look forward to working closely with the BCCI, Head of Cricket, Mr VVS Laxman, the support staff, and, most importantly, the players, as we work towards achieving success in the upcoming tournaments," he said in a BCCI statement.