The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants to retain Rahul Dravid as head coach till next year’s T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in the United States and the West Indies in June. Earlier, Gujarat Titans coach Ashish Nehra rejected the offer provided by the Cricket Board.
Rahul Dravid has previously coached in all three formats. Although his contract had ended after the World Cup, the BCCI is now willing to provide him with a fresh contract. Under Ashish Nehra’s coaching, Gujarat Titans won the IPL last year and finished second in 2023, the former Indian pacer is known as one of the shrewd cricketing brains in the Indian circuit.
According to the reports in Indian Express, after India’s defeat in the World Cup final, the BCCI approached Nehra, but India captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar believe that Rahul Dravid should stay until the next T20 World Cup, as he brought calm and composed approach in the team.
The core members of the support staff, including bowling coach Paras Mhambrey and batting coach Vikram Rathour, will likely also receive new contracts.
Ashish Nehra’s extensive expertise as a cricketer makes him a viable candidate for the position. Nehra has played 29 Test innings, 120 ODIs, and 26 T20Is, taking 44, 157, and 34 wickets, respectively. His T20 average of 21.44 is extremely appealing.
Ravi Shastri and his team’s tenure ended in late 2021, and Rahul Dravid took over as the new head coach. His tenure started smoothly, but despite a successful build-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup, the team was eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual champions England.
However, under Dravid’s leadership, the team achieved some historic feats and played a great brand of cricket, especially in the ODI World Cup.
It was stated that the officials would respect any decision made by the former Indian skipper regarding his wishes to continue with the Indian team. Rahul Dravid brought the team back on track after Virat Kohli’s captaincy controversy, and he developed great camaraderie among the players.
Although his coaching performance was not exceptional, he did help the team find the right combination, although they fell short of ICC titles in the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup. Currently, VVS Laxman is serving as the head coach of the Indian cricket team for the ongoing T20I series against Australia.
