BCCI offers Rahul Dravid contract extension as head coach of Team India

After former India cricketer Ashish Nehra declined BCCI's offer to coach the national team, the Indian board has offered a contract extension to Rahul Dravid as the head coach.

According to media reports, Nehra, who is the head coach of IPL team Gujarat Titans, was approached by the BCCI first but after he turned down the offer to coach India's T20 side, Dravid was approached last week. 

But it still needs to be confirmed if Dravid has accepted the offer. A key reason why BCCI chose to stick with Dravid was to maintain continuity in the team structure and environment that he had put in place over the past two years, which could have been disrupted with the appointment of a new coach.

 

If Dravid accepts the extension, his first assignment in his second stint will be the tour of South Africa from December 10, which will have three ODIs and T20Is each and two Tests. The red-ball leg will start from December 26.

Following that will be a five-match Test series against England at home, before the ICC T20 World Cup in June in West Indies/USA.

Dravid replaced Ravi Shastri following a disappointing ICC T20 World Cup campaign in 2021, which saw India exit in the Super 12 stage. He was appointed for a two-year term, which ended with India's runners-up finish in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup at home.

Check latest news on India vs Australia cricket match here

This is the joint-best finish under Dravid in an ICC tournament, losing to Australia in the ICC World Test Championship in June. Before this, they registered a ten-wicket loss to England in the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

If Dravid opts to continue, it is expected that the same set of assistant coaches will be retained, i.e, Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach), and T Dilip (fielding coach).

After India's defeat to Australia in the WC final, Dravid said that he was proud of India's top ranking across all formats, though it was disappointing not to have an ICC trophy to show for it. On continuing as head coach, Dravid said that he had not decided on it since he was consumed with the World Cup preparations.

"I have not thought about it. I have no time to think about this, and no time to reflect on this," Dravid had said.

"I will when I get the time to do that. But at this point of time, I was completely focused on this campaign. I was focused on this World Cup, and there was nothing else on my mind. And I have not given any other thought to what happens in the future," he concluded.