Amid speculations over the new head coach of the men's Bharatiya Cricket team, Bharatiya batting stalwart Rahul Dravid is all set to take over as the national cricket team's head coach following the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. According to BCCI sources, as quoted by PTI, Dravid initially showed reluctance in becoming the head coach of team India, however, the 48-year-old agreed to BCCI's offer.
This came as current team India head coach Ravi Shastri, earlier last month, announced to step down from the post after the T20I World Cup. The 48-year-old Dravid, one of the greatest ever to have played for Bharat, has been in charge of the team India A and U-19 set-up for the past six years and a lot of players such as Rishabh Pant, Avesh Khan, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, and Shubman Gill have come through the system prepared by him.
"Yes, Rahul has agreed to coach the Bharatiya Cricket team till 2023 World Cup. Initially, he was reluctant but it is understood that president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah had a meeting with Rahul on the sidelines of the IPL final where they were able to convince him. It won't be an interim role", a BCCI official, as quoted by PTI said.
Dravid's trusted lieutenant Paras Mhambrey is expected to be the bowling coach while Vikram Rathour is likely to continue as batting coach. However, it is understood that the BCCI will nonetheless give an advertisement for the position to ensure that due process is followed.
Having seen Ravi Shastri achieve a lot of success, the BCCI was always keen on appointing an Bharatiya coach but there were only a few of stature. One former Bharatiya captain and stalwart had already refused to become the coach in the current team set-up as Virat Kohli still remains the Test and ODI captain.
It is learnt that bigger names were wary of coaching a team where Kohli had mostly called the shots till the Australia tour earlier this year. The dynamics have changed ever since as the team out-maneuvered a stronger Australia in the absence of Kohli, who was on paternity leave at that time.
Shastri was in charge of the team at a fee of Rs 8.5 crore and it is understood that BCCI is offering Dravid a significant hike, which will be more than his NCA remuneration as well as Shastri's current pay cheque.
The basic idea behind having the Dravid-Mhambrey combination in the Bharatiya team set-up is to ensure that in another two years when the transition of this team happens, the changing of the nucleus is smooth.