Almost 10 years after retiring from international cricket, former skipper Rahul Dravid will return to the Indian cricket team’s dressing room on a full-time basis as its head coach. Dravid has had two-part time stints with the national team so far and it will be for the first time when he will take up the job on a full-time basis.
The ICC Hall of Famer will travel across the globe with the team and will coach the side in at least 3 ICC events – T20 World Cup, 50-World Cup and the ongoing World Test Championship. Apart from Team India, Dravid has coached 2 IPL franchises, the India A side and the U-19 team.
Hence, he rejoins the national team with a wealthy coaching experience of over 8 years. The cricketing fraternity has reacted positively to Dravid’s appointment as the head coach.
Sharing his take on the appointment, former India captain and batsman, Ajay Jadeja has made a special request to the BCCI. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Jadeja has requested the BCCI to not tell Dravid about how to run the team and let him do the job with his own vision.
“If there’s a role model of discipline and dedication, it’s Rahul Dravid. You want a lot of things from a coach but discipline and dedication are probably the two prime things. It will be interesting to see who will make the next T20 captain – Rahul Dravid or [the selectors]. There’s no doubt in his individual praise but when someone becomes an Indian coach, if you don’t let him work or don’t use his vision then it’s all redundant, anyone can be a coach in that way,” he told Cricbuzz.
“So if you have brought Rahul Dravid, the biggest name, then at least go with his vision. This is my request to the board… If a man like Rahul Dravid has joined then please, please move alongside his vision, understanding and dedication, don’t tell him how to run the team.”
Dravid will be starting his two-year tenure as the head coach starting from the home series against New Zealand. Following that, India will have a full-fledged tour of South Africa, where the visitors are yet to win a Test series. In 2018, India’s sole win in the Test series came after losing the first two fixtures of the three-match series.
Apart from that, India will have the challenge to end their dry run in ICC events as they haven’t won a global trophy since 2013. Team India’s chances of making it to the next round of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 are bleak.
