Indian head coach Rahul Dravid will not coach India in the next three-match One-Day International series against South Africa, which kicks off on Sunday. Instead, India’s head coach will accompany the red-ball squad to oversee preparations for the two-match Test series.
Rahul Dravid and his coaching staff will not be present for any of the three One-Day Internationals. The National Cricket Academy (NCA) staff Sitanshu Kotak, will coach the KL Rahul-led ODI team. Ajay Ratra will serve as the fielding coach, and Rajib Dutta, associated with the NCA, will be the bowling coach
According to the BCCI, Rahul Dravid will keep an eye on the events of a three-day inter-squad encounter beginning December 20 in Pretoria. It will be the Indian side’s second tour game – the previous one against South Africa A ended in a draw – and will most likely feature regular Test team members such as captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“Team India (Senior Men) head coach Rahul Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, and fielding coach T. Dilip will link up with the Test squad and oversee their preparations for the inter-squad game and the Test series.”
“The ODI team will be assisted by India A’s coaching staff comprising batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, bowling coach Rajib Datta, and fielding coach Ajay Ratra,” BCCI said in a statement.
The decision was made with India’s long wait for a first Test series triumph in South Africa in mind. Despite winning the first Test, India lost 1-2 in their most recent try in 2021-22, which happened to be Dravd’s first full assignment as India’s head coach.
Rahul Dravid, who returned as head coach after a dream run in the 2023 ODI World Cup held the three-match T20 series 1-1 in South Africa. He intends to prioritize the shortest and longest formats for the time being. With the T20 World Cup set to take place in June of this year and the World Test Championship points up for the grabs.
Meanwhile, seasoned Indian players Kohli, Ashwin, Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, and Harshit Rana left on Friday for South Africa. On Friday night, Captain Rohit Sharma was photographed at the Mumbai airport on his way to South Africa. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami was ruled out due to a failed ankle recovery.
The two Tests will be staged in Centurion and Cape Town, South Africa. Following the South Africa tour, India will host three Twenty20 Internationals against Afghanistan before embarking on a high-octane five-match Test series against England.