BCCI President Sourav Ganguly revealed how he convinced Rahul Dravid to take up the job of becoming the head coach of Team India.
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Former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid was appointed as the Head Coach of Team India after Ravi Shastri’s reign with the team ended with the conclusion of the ICC T20 World Cup. Dravid became the coach on November 2021 for two years.
While speaking to Boria Majumdar on the show ‘Backstage with Boria’, Ganguly revealed how tough it was for him to convince Dravid. Dravid wasn’t agreeing to the job as the team had to be in the road for about 8-9 months in a year. It is only during the IPL that the national coaches get some rest.
“We had Rahul in mind for a long period of time, both me and Jay, but he wasn’t agreeing because of the time away from home [and] because doing a national team’s job is [about being] on the road for about 8-9 months in a year and he has two young children,” Ganguly said.
“At one stage we gave up, he was appointed as the head of NCA (National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru) to look after it and take things forward. We had done all the interviews and everything, his interview and application, and he was appointed at the NCA. But even after he was appointed, we still kept insisting. Luckily he agreed and I don’t know what triggered the change in his mind but he agreed and I think this is the best BCCI could have done in terms of coaching once Ravi [Shastri] left.”
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Ganguly added that after having multiple conversations with many players, it was clear enough that they wanted Dravid to become the head coach of the national team.
“And when we spoke to the players also [about] what sort of person they want, you could clearly see that, you know, there was an inclination to Rahul so we communicated that to him. I spoke to him personally many times [saying] that, ‘I know it’s hard but give it a try for two years, and if you find it too hard then we’ll see another way’.
“Luckily, he agreed and I don’t know what triggered the change in his mind but he agreed and I think this is the best BCCI could have done in terms of coaching once Ravi [Shastri] left,” concluded Ganguly.
Dravid joined BCCI’s full system way back in 2015 on a full-time basis. He then took over as the head coach of India A and coached the U-19 team for more than four years. Under his coaching several players from India A went on to make their international debut for the senior team. Under him India also won the U-19 World Cup in 2018. Dravid took over as the head of the National Cricket Academy in 2019.
In the next two years, Dravid will be a part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in 2023 and the World Test Championship. India haven’t won any ICC event since 2013. Rahul Dravid will be looking to end this title drought and bring back many ICC trophies to India.
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