Gambhir’s Return Due to Family Emergency Mirrors Veteran India Cricketer’s Experience Last Year

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir has left the England tour in the middle after a family emergency. Gambhir caught a flight back home to be with his mother, who is in the hospital in a serious condition, ahead of the intra-squad warm-up match. Gambhir had been travelling with the Indian team to England for the five-Test series which begins on June 20, and had just been in the nets on the eve of their warm-up matches, but due to a sudden family emergency, he has had to return home.

In Gambhir's absence, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate will take over running the team for their four-day intra-squad match against India A starting Friday.

Sources with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have confirmed to Hindustan Times that Gambhir has returned to the country, where he is spending time with family.

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“Gambhir had to return to India because of a family emergency. He left for India on Wednesday. Our prayers are with his family,” a source said.

"As of now, his exact date of arrival in the UK is not certain and it all depends on his mother's recovery. If everything goes well, he should be back for the first Test in Headingley," the source added.

Gambhir's mother is currently receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital in Delhi following a cardiac arrest. Gambhir's return to England will depend on her ongoing condition.

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It is not unprecedented for a member of the Indian team to leave a series halfway through owing to a family emergency in the recent past, as seen with the KKR bowling consultant Ravichandran Ashwin who left the Indian Test series against England at home in 2024 for Chennai after his mother was admitted to a hospital following an blackout in the middle of the third Test against England in Rajkot which meant a brief leave from the team for him to be with her.

Take earlier in 2025 when India's bowling coach Morne Morkel had to depart abruptly from Dubai during the Champions Trophy because of a family emergency. Morkel had to leave on February 17th, when he received the news regarding the passing of his father Alberts, which was a critical time also as it was just days before India was due to play Bangladesh in the opening match in the Champions Trophy. Morkel did return to the squad in Dubai in advance of India's final Group A match in the Champions Trophy against New Zealand.

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