Anil Kumble was named as the Team India head coach recently. 57 candidates had applied for the job out of which 21 were shortlisted and interviewed in Kolkata. Shastri and Kumble were front runners for the post and eventually Kumble was chosen by the committee. But, before all this happened, Rahul Dravid was offered the job. Yes, Dravid!
Dravid coached the India U19 team during the World cup recently and was approached by the BCCI for the job but he rejected it. Here’s why:
“I requested Rahul Dravid to coach the Indian team. He didn’t say no, but said that he will work for the junior team. That is the good thing about Dravid. He didn’t go for the senior team post, big money and all. He wanted to work for the junior cricketers and not the senior team”, Anurag Thakur said.
As per Anurag, Rahul explained, “I can only do short-term assignments, I can’t stay away from home for long periods of time, short assignments suit me better.”
This is Rahul Dravid, right? despite being offered a huge sum of money, he chose to stick to his decision. Money did not make a difference!