After over a week of deliberation, the BCCI and Rahul Dravid have come to an agreement to extend Dravid’s contract as India’s head coach.
The BCCI made this announcement on Wednesday. However, and very interestingly, the board didn’t mention the tenure of his contract extension. But Rahul Dravid will be the coach at least until the T20 World Cup 2024 in June next year.
This will be Dravid’s second tenure as the head coach. Rahul Dravid was appointed as India’s head coach in November 2021 for a two-year contract, which expired at the end of the World Cup 2023 ten days ago with India losing the World Cup final to Australia in Ahmedabad.
Rahul Dravid and his support staff take contract extension
Reports and rumors from sources after the World Cup had stated that Dravid would not extend his contract as he wanted to spend more time with his family, and that VVS Laxman, the NCA head and who had operated as the interim head coach whenever Dravid was rested, would take over.
But those reports were quashed as on Tuesday it emerged that the BCCI had offered Rahul Dravid an extension which the 50-year-old has now accepted.
Along with Dravid, the contracts of his support staff and assistant coaches – Vikram Rathour (batting coach), Paras Mhambrey (bowling coach), and T Dilip (fielding coach). – have also been extended.
India’s next assignment will be a three-format tour to South Africa in December-January, followed by a home 5-Test series against England, all part of the WTC 2023-25 cycle. After the IPL 2024, India will take part in the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA. The last big tour of 2024 will be to Australia for white-ball matches and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India currently hold.
While there is no confirmation on the future of Rohit Sharma as the captain, it is believed that with Dravid taking an extension, Rohit is likely to lead India in next year’s T20 World Cup too.
