Following the contract expirations of team India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate and fielding coach T Dilip, the hunt is on for their replacements as the Board of Control for Cricket in India appears to have identified a few options to replace them ahead of the Indian team’s tour of Sri Lanka, where the Shubman Gill-led side will participate in a 2-match Test series.
This will be an important series for both the sides in terms of their aspirations of reaching the ICC World Test Championship final next year at the Oval. India and Sri Lanka are currently 5th and 6th in the WTC 2025-27 points table with percentiles of 48.15% and 41.67% respectively.
The series starts next month with the 1st Test starting on August 15 while the 2nd will commence on the 23rd. Ahead of the tour, the BCCI will be looking to find replacements for the vacant assistant and fielding coach positions.
Ryan ten Doeschate, who joined the Indian team as the assistant to head coach Gautam Gambhir, decided to move on for a new challenge after his 2-year contract expired on June 10. It came at the right time as the Dutchman was reportedly frustrated with the lack of clarity regarding his role in the national team setup.
He has now joined his former Indian Premier League outfit and 3-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders as their strategy head.
As for T Dilip, he had been serving as the fielding coach for the last 5 years under two different coaching staffs. Dilip initially joined the Indian team as part of Rahul Dravid’s entourage but the former was given an extension by the current Gautam Gambhir-led team due to his excellent work and good relationship with the players.
Both Ten Doeschate and Dilip’s contracts ended earlier this month but they stayed with the Indian team for their month long tour of the United Kingdom. Now that the duo are all set to leave, the BCCI has identified former Assam cricketer Subhadeep Ghosh as one of the replacements.
Who is Subhadeep Ghosh?
Born in Digboi, Subhadeep Ghosh is a former domestic cricketer, who represented Assam and Railways during his short cricketing career. He is among the 2-3 candidates that the BCCI has contacted for the vacant coaching positions in the Indian team.
As per trusted sources, Subhadeep Ghosh remains the frontrunner to land a job in the national team due to his familiarity with the domestic circuit. He is most likely to be hired as the fielding coach.
The 57-year-old, who is currently a part of the Delhi Capitals franchise, played 17 First-class and List A matches each, scoring 316 and 307 runs respectively.