Rahul Dravid has announced that the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 will be his last tournament as head coach of the Indian team. Dravid, who has been at the helm since 2021, had guided India to the finals of the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup and the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022.
However, Dravid refused to continue as India’s head coach role, for which the BCCI has put on an advertisement recently. The new tenure of the next Indian team head coach will run till the 2027 ODI World Cup and Dravid was not ready to commit to three more years of travelling and being away from his home.
Noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle shared his sentiments on Rahul Dravid stepping down as head coach.
“ I think it was an open secret that he wanted to finish after the last World Cup. But they wanted a certain continuity. They wanted a little more time to pick the right person.
“So, Rahul Dravid agreed to do the job till now. But he had made it very clear he was not going to continue. At that point… The ideal succession was probably looking at VVS Lakshman. Yeah.
“But I don’t think he can accept the job either because he’s got a young family growing up too. I think people underestimate how difficult it is in terms of the disruption of your family life, what it means to be India coach,” Bhogle said on Cricbuzz.
Rahul Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri after the 2021 T20 World Cup and with Rohit Sharma, has taken India to new heights of success, as they are the no.1 ranked team in all three formats and at the top of the ICC World Test Championship 2025.
Difficult for one person to be a full-time India coach – Harsha Bhogle
India plays the most cricket of any team in international cricket. BCCI secretary Jay Shah had ruled out the dual coaching roles that England, Australia, or Pakistan have employed. This has led to Harsha Bhogle stating that it is very difficult for one man to coach the Indian team in all three formats.
“I don’t think any team plays more cricket than India and England. India plays, and England have two coaches. Yeah. India plays more cricket than anybody else. So from time to time, you can send out somebody as a coach, but it’s very, very difficult to be a full team.
“For one person to be a full-time India coach, constantly juggling formats, juggling players is not easy. So, it doesn’t surprise me at all. I mean, we know, all of us know Rahul. Some of us are better than others. He’s cut from a different cloth.
“So, he’s given it his best and he says, I’ve done my job. Yeah, because for 10 months in a year, it is just absolutely non-stop. It’s the two months of the IPL where the Indian coach is not allowed to do anything,” Bhogle said.
“You can’t coach an IPL team. You can’t do any commentary. There’s obviously conflict of interest. But those 10 months are pretty hardcore. Very difficult. Very difficult for them.
“And I think he’s done an amazing job. And that’s the point. Guys like Rahul Dravid will just pick it up uncomplainingly and say, you know, I’m doing this. It’s a higher purpose.
“I’m doing it for my country. I’ll do my very best. And if you give in also that kind of intensity to what Rahul brings to his game, his cricket, his coaching, everything, I think there’s only a certain amount of time in which you can do it. You are going to burn out. You have a young family. His son wants to watch his son play some junior level cricket,” he added.
'Coaching is taxing; not surprised by #Dravid stepping down'@bhogleharsha & @joybhattacharj discuss, on #CricbuzzLive#T20WC pic.twitter.com/hJipAtYuKF
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) June 3, 2024
The deadline for new coach applications ended on May 27 and as per reports, Gautam Gambhir is the front-runner for the job.