Rahul Dravid may be asked by BCCI to be the coach for Indian cricketers on the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in July as Ravi Shastri is accompanying the players in England.
The rescheduling of fixtures amid the Covid-19 pandemic and quarantine regulations have forced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to get more creative in terms of squad selection. After BCCI president Sourav Ganguly revealed that a completely different squad will be picked for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka, it has been learned that Rahul Dravid could be handed the responsibility to accompany that team as the head coach.
Rahul Dravid May Coach Limited Overs White Ball Team For 3 ODIs And 3 T20Is
In what would be a first, the BCCI is all set to pick a completely different squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, featuring 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is, while Virat Kohli-led India will be in England preparing for the red-ball series.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, all of whom are also central to India’s limited-overs setup, will not be a part of the team in Sri Lanka. Along with them, head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun as well as batting coach Vikram Rathour will also not be able to assist the players on the tour of Sri Lanka.
In such a case, the idea of having Rahul Dravid don the head coach’s hat has been floated. A report in Cricbuzz confirmed that the idea is being mulled upon and there is a good possibility that he will accompany the players to Sri Lanka along with some of his support staff from the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
Rahul Dravid, the last Indian captain to win a Test series in England (in 2007), predicts the upcoming five-Test series between the two teams will end in a 3-2 win for India. The series, scheduled for August-September, will be a “tough” contest overall and a “great series to watch”, according to Rahul Dravid.
India’s Squad For WTC Final Consisted Of Only 20 Players Keeping Sri Lanka Limited Overs Series In Mind
For the tour of England, it was reported that the BCCI is likely to pick a jumbo 30-man squad but the board only named 20 players for the assignment that will including the World Test Championship final and 5 Tests against England. The decision was probably taken keeping the Sri Lanka series in mind that will see a host of other players traveling to the island nation.
Among the players available for the Lanka tour, the names of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kuldeep Yadav have emerged.
The BCCI is still in the process of finalizing the details of the tour and pick the squad. While there’s no denying that there are plenty of white-ball specialists in the Indian team who are more than capable of putting a good challenge in Sri Lanka, it remains to be seen how the management formulates this unique setup. The ODIs will probably take place in 13th, 16th and 19th July and T20Is will be probably in 22nd, 24th and 27th July.
Probable Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, T Natarajan, Chetan Sakariya, Rahul Tewatia, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy
Also In Contention: Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Manish Pandey, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi