Former Indian captain Rahul Dravid has formally applied for the role of head coach of the Indian senior men’s team. Having remained in coaching duties as mentor of a couple of IPL teams and head coach of the youth setup, the legendary cricketer is all set to take over the role once Ravi Shastri steps down after the T20I World Cup 2021.
PTI has also reported that Paras Mhambrey and Abhay Sharma have applied for the role of bowling coach and fielding coach, respectively. Both candidates are considered favorites to take over if Dravid gets the big job, as they have been working with the 48-year-old for a while at the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru. Current personnel in charge of those positions, R Sridhar and Bharat Arun, will step down alongside Shastri.
“Yes, Rahul has formally applied today as it is the last day of the deadline. His team at the NCA, bowling coach Paras (Mhambrey) and fielding coach Abhay (Sharma) have already applied. His application was just a formality,”
a senior BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Ratra is another candidate for the fielding coach role. The battle between him and Abhay Sharma is expected to be a close affair.
Learn more 👉 ESPNcricinfo: Dravid to become India’s next full-time head coach
It was reported earlier that BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah had spoken with Rahul Dravid in the UAE. They convinced the former Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals mentor to take over from Ravi Shastri, to lay a platform for the 2023 ICC World Cup which will be hosted by India.
Besides the coaching staff stepping down, one major change is Virat Kohli handing over the captaincy duties in the shortest format. The Indian captain, who turns 33 next week, might also make a decision on ODI leadership.
Rohit Sharma is the undisputed favorite to take over in T20Is, and there are rumours suggesting he could be captain of the ODI team soon as well.
India play New Zealand in an ODI series almost instantly after the T20 World Cup ends, and they have multiple tours lined up over the next three months. They have their eyes set on the T20 World Cup this year and next year in Australia and will deem it a massive failure to not lay hands on one of them.
