Rahul Dravid, who completed his tenure as the Head Coach of the Indian cricket team across all the formats was approached by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a contract extension, to which he has given his nod. The contract extension is being offered till the T20 World Cup next year in the United States and West Indies.
The extension is offered considering the positive environment of the dressing room that has developed under Dravid’s mentorship.
According to the release from BCCI, Dravid has accepted the offer and the same set of assistant coaches has been retained, i.e., Vikram Rathour (batting), Paras Mhambrey (bowling), and T Dilip (fielding coach).
Dravid’s stint as Team India’s Coach
Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri after a disappointing group-stage exit of team India from the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE. Under his coaching, India ended up in the semi-final stage to lose to England by 10 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. This year, team India lost the finals of the World Test Championship and the recently concluded Cricket World Cup 2023 at home against Australia. The team won the Asia Cup this year during his tenure as the head coach.
Laxman as the stand-in coach
For now, VVS Laxman was the stand-in coach for India. Laxman is associated with the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru as the Director of the prestigious institution. He also coached the Under-19 men’s cricket team and the India-A team. Dravid has accepted the offer, and he will leave for the South African tour where India will play 3 ODIs and T20s each from December 10, followed by 2 tests beginning from Boxing Day.
Later on, India would host team England for a five-test series at home. Following the test, a break from international cricket for the Indian Premier League would end up in the much-awaited T20 World Cup 2024.