Rahul Dravid applies for India's head coach role: Details here
Indian legend Rahul Dravid formally applied for the position of Team India's head coach on Tuesday. The former Indian captain has been the front-runner to get the role. Additionally, Paras Mhambrey and Ajay Ratra have applied for the roles of India's bowling and fielding coaches respectively. The incumbent Indian head coach Ravi Shastri will step down after the completion of T20 World Cup.
A senior BCCI official informed about the development
"Yes, Rahul has formally applied today as it is the last day of the deadline. His team at the NCA, bowling coach Paras (Mhambrey) and fielding coach Abhay (Sharma) have already applied. His application was just a formality," a BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.
A look at the recent developments
It is understood that Dravid recently met the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah in Dubai. As per reports, Ganguly and Shah have spoken to him about taking up the role once Shastri leaves. Dravid is expected to take charge ahead of India's T20I series against New Zealand at home, which starts on November 17.
Dravid coached India during the white-ball tour of Lanka
Dravid coached Team India during its white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in July. India's senior players were in England, which allowed him to coach the white-ball specialists during the Lankan tour. Notably, the team consisted of several India A players, who were accustomed to Dravid's methods. Earlier, Dravid had traveled with Team India as a batting consultant to England in 2014.
BCCI will have to appoint a new NCA head
If Dravid gets selected as head coach, the BCCI will need to appoint a new head for the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Notably, Dravid was also the head coach of India Under-19 and India A teams from 2016 to 2019.
A look at Dravid's numbers in international cricket
Dravid, also known as 'The Wall', remains one of the greatest batsmen. In a career spanning nearly 16 years, Dravid amassed 13,288 Test runs, still the fourth highest after Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis. He has played the joint-third-most matches in Test history (166). The right-handed batsman also scored 10,889 runs in ODI cricket (12 hundreds).
