After the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE, Rahul Dravid will take over as head coach of the national men’s team. Dravid’s two-year contract will begin on November 17 with the home series against New Zealand.
Dravid was reported in a BCCI statement as stating, “It is an incredible honour to be named as the next head coach of the Indian cricket team; I am genuinely looking forward to this position.” “Under Mr. (Ravi) Shastri’s leadership, the team has performed admirably, and I look forward to working with him to continue this trend.”
“I know they have the enthusiasm and desire to grow every day since I worked closely with them at NCA [National Cricket Academy], U19, and India A. In the next two years, there are some major multi-team events, and I’m looking forward to working with the players and support personnel to reach our full potential.”
Dravid’s appointment, which was made official on Wednesday by the cricket advisory council, which included Sulakshana Naik and RP Singh, was always a possibility once he submitted a formal application for the role.
Following talks during the IPL playoffs last month, Dravid was persuaded to do so by Sourav Ganguly, Dravid’s old teammate who is now the BCCI president, as well as the board’s senior brass.
“Rahul’s efforts at the NCA have cultivated a number of young cricketing stars who have gone on to represent the country on an international level,” Ganguly remarked. “I am optimistic that his new appointment will propel Indian cricket to new heights. Rahul has a distinguished playing career and is considered one of the game’s greats. He has also distinguished himself as the Head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in India.”
After four years as the coach of India A and India Under-19, Dravid became the director of the NCA in Bengaluru. India reached two Under-19 World Cup finals during his tenure, losing one (against West Indies in 2016) and winning the other (against Australia in 2018). Dravid helped establish a procedure for injury treatment and rehabilitation at the NCA, as well as training programmes for coaches around the country, and produced age-group, men’s, and women’s cricket roadmaps.
Dravid took over as interim head coach for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka in July. The series ran concurrently with Shastri’s men’s Test tour of England. Since then, rumours have circulated that Dravid will take over full-time after Shastri’s term ends.
Shastri, who took over as head coach from Anil Kumble in July 2017, has a long list of achievements to his name. India became the first Asian side to defeat Australia in a Test series in Australia (2018-19) under his leadership. They went on to accomplish the same feat again early this year. India also reached the final of the inaugural World Test Championship, where they were defeated by New Zealand.
Soon after, they grabbed a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series in England before the series was postponed due to a Covid-19-related worry in the Indian camp. The last Test will take place next year.
The members of Dravid’s support team will be revealed in due time. Dravid’s NCA colleague Paras Mhambrey is the front-runner to take over as bowling coach from Bharat Arun, while Abhay Sharma and Ajay Ratra have sought for the job of fielding coach. Vikram Rathour, the current batting coach, confirmed his re-application for the role on Wednesday.
Dravid takes over at a difficult time for India, with three T20Is and two Tests scheduled against New Zealand. India will tour South Africa in December for three Tests, three One-Day Internationals, and four Twenty20 Internationals. As part of the 2021-22 home season, India will host the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.
With Virat Kohli poised to step down as captain after the T20I World Cup, one of Dravid’s immediate challenges will be to manage the captaincy transition in the T20I format.
