After initially resisting the BCCI's proposal, India's batting legend Rahul Dravid is poised to take over as the national cricket team's head coach following the T20 World Cup in the UAE. Dravid, 48, has been in charge of the India A and U-19 setup for the past six years, and several players like Rishabh Pant, Avesh Khan, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, and Shubman Gill have gone through his system. He is presently the director of Bengaluru's National Cricket Academy.
Also Read: IPL 2021 Final: Magnificent du Plessis guides Chennai to 192/3"Yes, Rahul has accepted to coach India till the World Cup in 2023. He was initially hesitant, but it is known that Rahul was persuaded after a meeting with president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah on the sidelines of the IPL final "On condition of anonymity, a BCCI official informed PTI.
He went on to say, "It won't be a temporary job." Paras Mhambrey, Dravid's loyal lieutenant, is anticipated to take over as bowling coach, while Vikram Rathour is slated to remain as batting coach.
However, it is expected that the BCCI would post a job advertising for the position in order to guarantee that the proper due procedures are followed.
The BCCI was always interested on selecting an Indian coach after seeing Ravi Shastri's success, but there were only a few of significance.
As long as Virat Kohli is the Test and ODI captain, one former Indian captain and stalwart has already declined to become the team's coach.
Bigger names were reportedly cautious of coaching a squad where Kohli was mostly in charge until the Australia trip earlier this year.
Since then, the dynamics have shifted as the squad outmanoeuvred a stronger Australia without Kohli, who was on paternity leave at the time.
Shastri was paid Rs 8.5 crore to lead the squad, and it is known that the BCCI is giving Dravid a hefty raise, which will be more than both his NCA compensation and Shastri's current pay.
The primary objective behind having the Dravid-Mhambrey combo in the Indian team set-up is to guarantee that when the team transitions in another two years, the nucleus transition is as seamless as possible.
"Virat is days away from his 33rd birthday, while Rohit will be 35 next year. Apart from them, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane are all excellent players who will be phased out over the next two years.
"The majority of the players expected to join are from the U-19 squad. As a result, Dravid's appointment is critical "According to the source.