Two-time World Cup-winner Gautam Gambhir, who has been widely speculated as the frontrunner to succeed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, has on Tuesday reportedly interacted with the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), the panel entrusted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to select the coach.

It has been learnt that the CAC comprising former India cricketers Ashok Malhotra, Jatin Paranjape and Sulakshana Naik, interviewed Gambhir virtually for the first round, and another round of discussion is expected to take place on Wednesday.

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The BCCI, which had set May 27 as the deadline for applications for the post, had held informal discussions with Gambhir during IPL 2024, when he helped lead Kolkata Knight Riders to their third title after returning to the franchise as mentor ahead of the 2024 IPL season.

The details of the meeting with Gambhir and the CAC members are yet to be known but it is understood that the discussion centred around Gambhir’s approach for the next three years, which will include three major ICC tournaments across different formats, starting with the ICC Champions Trophy early 2025.

The BCCI’s Apex committee is set to meet on Tuesday during which board secretary Jay Shah is expected to brief the members about the coach selection process before the final announcement is made in the next couple of days.

The KKR job was Gambhir’s second stint in a coaching role after spending a couple of seasons (2022 and 2023) as mentor at Lucknow Super Giants, helping the team qualify for the playoffs both times.

Gambhir had sought time to take a final call during the IPL, but speaking at an event in Abu Dhabi on June 1, he had expressed his desire to coach India.

“Look, I would love to coach the Indian team. There is no bigger honour. There is no bigger honour than coaching your national team. You are representing 140 crore Indians. And more across the globe as well. And when you represent India, how can it get bigger than that?,” he had said.

He had been answering a question on whether he saw himself helping India win a World Cup.

“How can I help India win the World Cup – I think it’s not me that will help India win the World Cup, it is 140 crore Indians that will help India win the World Cup. If everyone starts praying for us, and we start playing and representing them, India will win the World Cup. The most important thing is to be fearless and yes, I would love to coach India,” he said.

Gambhir’s potential candidature was endorsed by a host of big names in Indian cricket, including Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.

“If Gambhir applies — you can see it on TV — he worked for KKR this year. I was with Delhi (Capitals), you can see the hunger, the passion and the want to win and I will be happy if he applies and if the board decides to give him the job, I think he is a good candidate,” Ganguly had said.

“You will have to give him (Gambhir) time. He certainly is capable. We have seen Gautam handle teams, he has been a captain for India, for his franchise. He has all the credentials to be that. But, Indian team coaching is slightly different. So you will have to give him time to settle in,” reckoned Kumble.

Gambhir became the frontrunner for the job once his former India team-mate VVS Laxman, the current director at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) had reportedly turned down an offer to succeed Dravid.

Dravid had taken over from Ravi Shastri after the T20 World Cup in November 2021, initially signing on for two years until the 2023 ODI World Cup before accepting the BCCI’s request to extend his tenure until the ongoing T20 World Cup.

While advertising for the new coach, the BCCI had said the tenure would be for three and a half years, from July 2024 to December 2027, and would helm the team in all three formats. BCCI secretary Jay Shah had earlier hinted that the next head coach could be an Indian by saying that he should have a “deep understanding” of the game’s structure in the country.