Rahul Dravid remains India’s head coach, BCCI ends speculations by extending contracts of entire support staff
The BCCI engaged in discussions with Dravid after the term of his contract ended following the World Cup 2023 and unanimously agreed to further the tenure.
Ending all speculations about the Indian men’s cricket team head coach and its support staff, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, announced the extension of contracts for Rahul Dravid and his crew members. The contracts of India’s coaching staff – head coach Dravid, batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhmabrey, and fielding coach T Dilip – were till the recently concluded ODI World Cup but now the board has decided to give all of them an extension. The primary reason behind this is believed to be the solid performance that India put in at the World Cup, under their guidance. They did not win the title – they lost in the final to Australia – but won 10 straight games in the tournament in a never-before-seen display of dominance by any Indian side in the past.
There were multiple reports of Dravid not being keen to get an extension keeping because of the constant travel and commitment the job demands but the former India captain appears to have changed his mind after the board officials pursued him.
“The BCCI engaged in productive discussions with Dravid after the term of his contract ended following the recently concluded ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and unanimously agreed to further the tenure,” BCCI said in a release.
There was no mention of the tenure for which Dravid and his support staff were given an extension but chances are high it is till next year’s T20 World Cup in June in the West Indies and USA.
Dravid was appointed India’s head coach after the T20 World Cup 2021. Since then India have fared well in all three formats. They retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy, beat New Zealand, South Africa, and Sri Lanka at home. In ICC tournaments, their march was stopped in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in 2022. They fared much better in the World Test Championship but faltered in the last hurdle. The story was similar in the ODI World Cup. After displaying commanding performances till the semi-finals, Dravid’s men came second-best to Australia.
In Dravid’s tenure, the only multi-nation trophy India won was the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in 2023.
