Rahul Dravid set to take over as India coach
MUMBAI: Rahul Dravid, who has been working behind the scenes to build Indian cricket’s supply line, may have finally made up his mind to become the India team’s head coach. A meeting between the former India skipper and top BCCI officials in Dubai on Thursday went well, and if all goes to plan, the process announced to select Ravi Shastri’s successor may become a procedural formality.
“We’ll be bringing out the advertisements for the head coach soon. We have been able to convince Rahul that he should now move forward to work actively with the Indian national team,” a BCCI official said. Dravid is expected to take over for a two-year term after India’s October-November T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE.
Dravid has been BCCI’s first choice for many years. Before Anil Kumble got the job in 2016, and Shastri came back in 2017, Dravid could have got the position if he wanted. But he was happy working with the India U-19 team, on shadow tours for India A, and at the National Cricket Academy.
Although it may appear that Dravid has had a change of heart, it is learnt that BCCI never gave up on roping him in. The 48-year-old has been involved in talks with BCCI since July, when he went to Sri Lanka as coach of India’s white-ball team.
Around that time, Virat Kohli’s workload as captain was also being actively discussed by BCCI. Dravid had then not given a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to becoming a full-time coach. “There are a lot of challenges doing full time roles, so I really don’t know. I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” he had said in a post-series media conference from Sri Lanka.
While the Indian player with most Test caps, runs and centuries after Sachin Tendulkar was happy to head NCA from his home in Bengaluru, his tenure had ended. He applied for an extension, and the board agreed, but his reappointment was never announced. “The offer was always there for him to come in as coach,” the official said. During negotiations for the NCA job, BCCI also conveyed to Dravid that his services could be used for the India team whenever required. Meanwhile, BCCI continued to chase other options. The two overseas coaches considered, Mahela Jayawardene and Ricky Ponting, were happy doing their two-month IPL stints. VVS Laxman’s name also came up for discussion, but there wasn’t unanimity among the decision-makers.
Unable to find a candidate of stature, BCCI turned to Dravid again and it appears he has finally agreed. Having been on the Indian coaching circuit for eight years, Dravid is best equipped to slip into Shastri’s successful shoes. Every cricketer who has debuted during this phase for India has borne the Dravid imprint. In 2015, when BCCI wanted him to join a decorated Cricket Advisory Committee to assist in interviewing candidates for coaches, Dravid—he had announced his Test retirement in 2012—expressed keenness instead to work with agegroup players. At that time, it was unheard of for leading Indian ex-players to opt for such a responsibility over media work or becoming the national head coach.
As India U-19 coach, he downplayed the euphoria around winning youth World Cups and focused on player development.
He enforced a rule that no player would be selected for more than one U-19 World Cup, and must instead graduate to domestic cricket. Dravid became the sounding board for national selectors on important selection calls. Everyone from Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Washington Sundar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal to Mohammed Siraj, who are expected to form the core of the Indian team in the coming years, have been guided by Dravid. Having mentored Rajasthan Royals and the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils in IPL, Dravid is very much a modern, data-backing coach who enjoys the switch to T20, while guiding players in the longest format comes naturally to him.
When Shastri was re-appointed in 2017, there was a fair bit of controversy around the choice of his support staff. Dravid’s name was proposed as batting consultant but Shastri wanted his own team. So would Dravid. But there is little likelihood of discord this time. Vikram Rathour, the current batting coach, and Paras Mhambrey, India A coach, have both worked with Dravid at NCA and will be in contention to become the batting and bowling coaches.
India captain Virat Kohli, who voiced his support Shastri to BCCI in 2017, said on Saturday he knew little about developments around Dravid’s likely appointment. “I honestly have no idea on what’s happening on that front. We haven’t had any detailed discussions with anyone,” he said in an ICC virtual conference. The T20 World Cup will be Kohli’s last as India captain in that format.
The next two years in international cricket will be packed with big ticket events in each format—2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, 2023 ODI World Cup at home and the 2023 World Test Championship final.