Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly lavished praise on Team India’s new head coach Rahul Dravid. Ganguly and Dravid share a long-standing relationship having been teammates with the Indian team for a number of years.
Last month, Dravid took charge as the head coach of the Indian team after the tenure of Ravi Shastri and his coaching staff came to an end. Dravid’s stint at the helm of Indian cricket got off to a brilliant start as the Men in Blue whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series and also won the two-match Test series 1-0.
Ganguly hailed Dravid’s humble attitude and narrated an incident from the first Test of the New Zealand in series in Kanpur. The BCCI president told News18, “I wish him (Dravid) all the best. I heard that in Kanpur, after the day’s practice he was picking up the cones and wickets and balls and bringing them back to the dressing room. It must have been a great sight for cameramen and photographers to see Rahul Dravid do that (smiles). But he is that sort of a person.”
Ganguly further assured that BCCI will offer Dravid all the support alongside both the limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma and Test skipper Virat Kohli that they need to succeed. “We will support him and Rohit and Virat in test cricket whichever way they want,” said Ganguly.
Not only were Ganguly and Dravid in the same dressing room and vital members of the Indian team for a long period of time, but the duo also handled India’s leadership responsibilities for a number of years. Dravid was India’s vice-captain during the time Ganguly led the team. Later, Dravid replaced Ganguly as India’s captain in 2005.
Dravid was appointed India’s head coach in November on a two-year contract. He will remain in charge until the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil.