Team India clinched its third Champions Trophy title when it defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 played in Dubai on Sunday, March 9. By winning the coveted trophy for the third time, India surpassed Australia and became the most successful team in the tournament’s history. India had previously won the tournament in 2002 and 2013.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy and veteran pacer Mohammed Shami were the team’s join-highest wicket-takers with 9 scalps each. Shreyas Iyer was the team’s highest run-scorer with 243 runs. These players under the guidance of experienced pros like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ensured that India remained unbeaten all through the tournament.
Also Read: The Raghavendra Dwivedi Story: From 21 Rupees to India’s World Cup Triumph
The players are getting all the adulation, and deservedly so. But we need to recognise the effort of the ‘other’ team that made the feat possible. This ‘team’ is the support staff that works relentlessly with the players so that the cricketers are in the best shape, physically and mentally, on the match days.
While some members of the team are well known, the others don’t get the due recognition.
Here is a look at the “team behind the team”
Gautam Gambhir — Head coach:
Gautam Gambhir is the head coach of India’s men’s cricket team. He is the one-half of the brain of the team. Gambhir is a former Indian cricketer with 12 years of international experience. He represented India in 242 internationals games in that span and accumulated over 10,000 runs across the three formats, including 20 hundreds and 56 fifties. Before joining team India he served as the mentor for Indian Premier League teams Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Ryan ten Doeschate — Assistant coach:
Former Netherlands international Ryan ten Doeschate is currently serving as the the team’s assistant coach. He is one of the two assistant coaches that the team has at the moment. ten Doeschate played for the Netherlands between 2006 to 2021. He won the ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Award three times between 2008 and 2011. During his playing days ten Doeschate was considered a fine all-rounder. The Dutchman has close association with Gambhir as he played under his captaincy at Kolkata Knight Riders for five years and then he became the team’s fielding coach when Gambhir was the mentor.
Abhishek Nayar — Assistant coach:
Abhishek Nayar is the second assistant coach of the team. Nayar is a former India international and represented the Men in Blue in only three ODIs. Although, Nayar did not have a note-worthy career at international stage, he tasted enough success in domestic circuit. An all-rounder, Nayar bowled medium pace and was a left-handed batter. Nayar was an integral part of the Mumbai squad that won the 2006 Ranji Trophy. He also has considerable IPL experience as well as he played for Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab (now known as Punjab Kings), Pune Warriors (now defunct) and Rajasthan Royals. Like ten Doeschate, Nayar too, worked with Gambhir at KKR. Nayar worked as the assistant coach at KKR as well.
Morne Morkel — Bowling coach:
Former South African cricketer Morne Morkel is the team’s bowling coach. Morkel played for the Proteas between 2006 to 2018 and represented them in 247 games and picked 544 wickets. He ranked in the ICC’s top 10 bowlers in all formats and was No. 1 in ODIs 2011. As things stand, with 309 Tests wickets, Morkel is South Africa’s sixth highest wicket taker in the format. Morkel played IPL for Delhi Daredevils (now known as Delhi Capitals), Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.
Sitanshu Kotak — Batting coach:
Sitanshu Kotak is the newest member of the coaching team. He was appointed as the team’s batting coach ahead of England’s white-ball tour of India that preceded the Champions Trophy. Kotak played domestic cricket from 1992/93 up until 2013. He was the mainstay of the Saurashtra team. He played 130 First Class matches and 89 List A games and accumulated over 11,000 runs across the two formats.
T Dilip — Fielding coach:
T Dilip serves as the team’s fielding coach. He is the product of the prestigious National Cricket Academy from where he completed Level C or Level 3 Coach Course. Dilip has worked with Hyderabad junior teams, East and West Zone women’s team, Hyderabad Ranji Trophy team, Deccan Chargers and India A. He became the fielding coach of India’s men’s senior team in 2021 when Rahul Dravid was the head coach. When Dravid stepped down as the coach and Gambhir became the team’s new head coach, there were rumours that former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes might become the team’s new fielding coach. But BCCI instilled faith in Dilip and he was given the extension to work with the new coaching staff.
Raghavendra Dwivedi — Throwdown specialist:
Raghavendra Dwivedi has been the part of the support staff for over a decade. He is the “throwdown specialist”. His job includes ‘throwing’ the balls at the Indian batsmen during the net sessions. It is because of this throws that Indian batters manage to acclimatise themselves to face pace bowlers. Dwivedi always wanted to become a cricketer but an untimely injury ended his aspiration to purse professional cricket. So, Dwivedi turned towards coaching. He started working with the BCCI in 2008 and was appointed as the team’s throwdown specialist three years later. His meticulous work has earned him praise from the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Prakhar Sachdeo.
