Rahul Dravid likely to miss U-19 tour in favour of India A
U-19 and India A coach Rahul Dravid is set to accompany the India A side on its tour of South Africa by missing the U-19 team's tour of England. Both the tours commence in mid-July with India A playing two Tests followed by an ODI tri-series while the U-19 team will play two Tests and five ODIs.
Rahul Dravid recently accepted a new two-year contract for the post of head coach of both India U-19 and India A. However, following his acceptance, his dual role as coach of the two national teams can be questioned as the former Indian batsman is set to give the India U-19 team's tour of England a miss as reported by TOI.
Dravid was signed for the post at a hefty salary of Rs. 4.5cr per annum but will accompany the India A team instead to South Africa with the Test series commencing on July 15th. However, Dravid will supervise the pre-tour camp in Bangalore that will begin from Tuesday.
"We'll appoint a coach in place of Dravid for the India U-19 team," a top BCCI official told TOI on Monday.
The camp will begin without assistant coaches Paras Mhambrey (bowling) Â and Abhay Sharma (fielding)Â who are yet to accept the new one-year contracts brought in place to resolve the conflict of interests issue.Â
"Everyone will have to get their conflict of interest issues cleared before they sign contracts with us, and we'll give everyone a 12-month contract now," informed the source.
Sharma, like Rahul Dravid, will have to give up his job as the coach of Himachal Pradesh in order to resume his duties as the assistant coach of the U-19 team as per the new contracts. The situation has led to the U-19 team being without proper support staff just 14 days before the team departs for England.
"We'll soon announce the entire coaching staff for the England trip," assured the official, while making it clear that there will be a physio, trainer and video analyst to assist Dravid during the camp.
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Presenting Nostragamus, the first ever prediction game which covers all sports, including Cricket. Play the SL vs ZIM challenge and answer all the questions with just a single swipe!
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