Rahul Dravid was on Wednesday appointed the new head coach of the Indian men's cricket team by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's Cricket Advisory Committee. Dravid will take charge of the team from the upcoming home series against New Zealand, which begins on November 17. Current coach Ravi Shastri's tenure comes to an end after the completion of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup.
"The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Ms Sulakshana Naik and Mr RP Singh on Wednesday unanimously appointed Mr Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach of Team India (Senior Men). The former India captain will take charge from the upcoming home series against New Zealand. The BCCI had invited applications for the said position on October 26 to appoint Mr Ravi Shastri's successor, whose term gets over after the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup," BCCI said in a press release.
The Indian cricket board congratulated Ravi Shastri and the rest of the coaching staff for their successful tenure in which the team attained several highs.
"The Board congratulates Mr Shastri (former Team Director & Head Coach), Mr B. Arun (Bowling Coach), Mr R. Sridhar (Fielding Coach) and Mr Vikram Rathour (Batting Coach) on a successful tenure. Under Shastri, the Indian Cricket Team adopted a bold and fearless approach and performed creditably both in home and away conditions. India climbed to the top position in the Test format and made it to the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in England.
"India became the first Asian team to win a Test series in Australia (2018-19) and followed it with another series win in 2020-21. India were also the first team to win all 5 T20Is in a bilateral series when it blanked New Zealand 5-0. Under Mr Shastri and his team's guidance, India won all their seven Test series at home," the release stated.
Dravid said that it was an "absolute honour" for him to be appointed the head coach of the team
"It is an absolute honour to be appointed as the new Head Coach of the Indian Cricket Team and I am really looking forward to this role. Under Mr Shastri, the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward. Having worked closely with most of the boys either at NCA, U19 and India A setup, I know they have the passion and desire to improve every day. There are some marquee multi-team events in the next two years, and I look forward to working with the players and the support staff to achieve our potential," Dravid was quoted in the press release.
Dravid's former teammate and current president of the BCCI, Sourav Ganguly, welcomed him to his new role and also praised his efforts in nurturing young cricketers in the country.
"The BCCI welcomes Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach of India's senior men team. Rahul has had an illustrious playing career and is one of the greats of the game. He has also served Indian cricket as Head of National Cricket Academy (NCA) with distinction. Rahul's effort at the NCA has nurtured several young cricketing talents who have gone on to represent the country at the international stage. I am hopeful that his new stint will take Indian cricket to new heights," Ganguly said.
Rahul Dravid had an illustrious career as a cricketer, which saw him become one of the legends of the game. He captained India to landmark Test series wins in England and West Indies and is the fourth highest run-getter in the history of Test cricket with 13,288 runs in 164 matches. He also scored more than 10,000 runs in one-day internationals and was part of the Indian team that reached the final of the 2003 ICC World Cup.
Source: NDTV