WATCH: Gautam Gambhir visits Datia's Maa Pitambara Temple ahead of Gwalior T20I

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir will reach Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh soon as the team is set to play the first T20I at city's newly-built Shrimant Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium. Ahead of the important fixture, Gambhir was spotted visiting Datia for offering his prayers at the Maa Pitambara Temple on Friday, October 04. Notably, Datia is roughly 70 kilometres off Gwalior, and thousands of devotees visit the temple daily, especially during the auspicious Hindu festival of Navratri.

A video of Gambhir at the temple was captured and surfaced on social media where the former cricketer was spotted in a yellow-coloured Kurta paired with a white Dhoti, a traditional outfit, usually worn during festivals. The 43-year-old took the blessings at the holy temple, and is expected to head to Gwalior soon as the squad and other coaching staff have already reached, and were seen practising hard in the nets on Thursday evening.

Watch the video of Gautam Gambhir at Maa Pitambara Temple here:

Focus moves to play under lights

The head coach will join the Indian team, moving to the shortest format of the game, after India's convincing clean sweep against the visiting side in the Test series. After the first T20I, the teams will travel to New Delhi for the second clash followed by the third and final game at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. The host side will be hopeful for a clean sweep in the white-ball leg as well, whereas, Bangladesh will be gunning to make the T20I series theirs.

Meanwhile, India have announced a strong squad for the T20I series, which will be led by Suryakumar Yadav, and vice-captain Hardik Pandya will also helm as his deputy. Pacers like Mayank Yadav and Harshit Rana may get to debut for the side, as spearheads Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have been rested. Nitish Kumar Reddy is another interesting name in the Men in Blue's squad, but his inclusion in the Playing XI looks unlikely with the presence of Hardik, Shivam Dube, and Washington Sundar.

Also Read: IND vs BAN Schedule 2024

India T20I squad vs Bangladesh 2024:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav