[In pictures] Gautam Gambhir offers prayers at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati 

India's men's cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir visited the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati to seek blessings on Tuesday, September 3. The Indian team is set to face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting September 19 in Chennai.

Gambhir was appointed as head coach on Tuesday, July 9, succeeding Rahul Dravid, who led India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in Barbados.

The team’s most recent action was their tour of Sri Lanka, which concluded on August 7. Since then, both the staff and players have been enjoying a break from the game.

A few days ago, the former Indian left-hander posted pictures on Instagram of himself and his wife enjoying a vacation. Now, the former cricketer has visited the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati to seek blessings as India prepares for a crucial home season.

Here are the pictures of Gautam:

Gambhir’s first assignment as India’s head coach yielded mixed results. The Men in Blue achieved a clean sweep in the three-match T20I series against the Island Nation but struggled in the 50-over format.

Rohit Sharma and Co. lost the ODI series 0-2, with one match ending in a tie. Sri Lanka made history by clinching their first ODI bilateral series win against India in 27 years.

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“He's certainly someone who is happy to smile” - Jonty Rhodes on whether Gautam Gambhir ever smiles

Jonty Rhodes, the fielding coach of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who worked with the current Indian coach during the 2023 IPL season, mentioned that while the southpaw maintains a serious demeanor in the dugout, he does smile off the field.

On the sidelines of the Pro Cricket League’s pre-launch event, Rhodes was asked if Gambhir ever smiles, to which the South African responded:

"He actually does, amazingly enough. But not the dugouts. Not at all. But that is important because you can't have a coach who smiles when you take a wicket and then frowns when you drop a catch.

"You know, so that that sort of consistency, if it's the GG deadpan look, then you would rather have that sort of consistency. But yeah, he's certainly in the team environment off the field. He's certainly someone who is happy to smile."

Meanwhile, LSG has announced Zaheer Khan as their mentor for the 2025 Indian Premier League season.