'Rahul Dravid still not interested in India coaching role, has asked for some time', reveals Sourav Ganguly
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that NCA head Rahul Dravid is still not interested in becoming the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team. Earlier, few media reports had suggested that the former India batsman has given his nod to take over the role after Ravi Shastri's departure.
Shastri's tenure is set to end after the completion of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman.
Rahul Dravid has coached the India U-19 and India A team in the past and is currently the director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore. The 48-year-old is credited for the current talent pool and the bench strength of the Indian cricket team. Almost all the youngsters in the current Team India set-up including Ishan Kishan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and Shubman Gill have been coached and mentored by Dravid at some point in their career. Dravid also plays a pivotal role in the recovery of injured players who train at the NCA.
"There is no confirmation (On Dravid becoming coach)," Ganguly, who captained Dravid and later played under him, said on Aaj Tak's Salaam Cricket 2021.
"If he wants to apply, he will apply, the process has to happen. For now, he is the coach of NCA and I believe NCA has a big role to play in Indian cricket. I have spoken to him earlier about this as well and he was not that interested and I feel the situation is still the same. He has asked for some time, let's see what happens," the BCCI president added.
Ganguly also talked about the importance of involving former greats of the game in the cricketing structure and administration.
"How many times do you see players Dravid, (Sachin) Tendulkar, (MS) Dhoni, (VVS) Laxman and Virat Kohli coming up in one country in such a short span. They have to be utilised. Imagine if you don't use Wasim Akram in Pakistan then who will you use? In England if you don't involve players like Kevin Pietersen or Alastair Cook, who are you going to involve? They have made a place for themselves with their performances and the more these players are involved in Indian cricket, the better it will be for the sport here," said Ganguly.
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