Will Rahul Dravid continue as head coach of India? Will the BCCI renew or extend his contract until next year's T20 World Cup in the West Indies and US or maybe beyond that? Is Dravid keen on having another go at one of the most high-profile cricket jobs in India? Is the BCCI really interested in having Dravid once more after a rather unanticipated no-trophy show on three major occasions by the head coach in major ICC events (T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, World Test Championship final in 2023, and the recently concluded ODI World Cup in India)?
These are questions hanging in the air now and not only fans but anyone connected with Indian cricket is wondering about the way forward for Dravid, who is one of India’s most respected icons.
If it were a timid semi-final exit like last year’s T20 World Cup, Dravid would have resigned by now. Even if hadn’t, the furore over a disastrous exit from that semi-final would have had the media baying for his blood and may have forced the BCCI to sack him.
However, India’s excellent show (10 wins in a row in a World Cup was not only unprecedented but the first in India’s ODI history as well) until his team blinked at the final hurdle has made things tricky for everyone else. The media can’t make Dravid a typical villain as it did with Greg Chappell (after the first round exit in the 2007 World Cup) nor can the BCCI overlook the coach’s overall contribution in making India the number one team across formats in the last 24 months.
Traditionally, a new regime sets in once the ODI World Cup gets over. This has been the usual practice in many cricketing countries and not just India.
There is a four-year cycle to start rebuilding for the next World Cup.
However, of late, this tradition has been evolving because of the different coaches for separate formats adopted by many teams, and with the T20 World Cup and WTC final coming into the picture as well.
"I haven't thought about it. Again, I have just come off a game. I have no time to think about this and no time to reflect on this. Yeah, I will when I get the time to do that. But … I was completely focused on this campaign... this World Cup, and there was nothing else on my mind. And I haven't given any other thought to what happens in the future," Dravid said immediately after India’s World Cup final loss in Ahmedabad, when this writer was also present in the press conference room.
Dravid was asked the same question in different ways including by yours truly and yet he was typically non-committal.
Dravid may have appeared a reluctant coach when he took over from Ravi Shastri late in 2021, but having been on multiple tours with this Indian team, one felt that the Indian coach was relishing this new challenge.
His special bond with captain Rohit Sharma blossomed in an atypical Indian way. Dravid, who was always seen as erudite and serious, was very relaxed in his new avatar. Maybe, it was something to do with Sharma’s natural calm and chilled out personality, which rubbed off on the 51-year-old, as can be seen from Dravid’s humourous side of late. And more than the BCCI, one assumes that because of his new jugalbandi with captain Sharma, Dravid would not mind continuing as he has unfinished business.
To start with, in just six months’ time, India will be playing the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, and there is hardly any time left for that tournament for a new coach to prepare afresh. Once the current T20 series against Australia gets over, there is a three-match series in South Africa and one more short series against Afghanistan in January 2024.
If Sharma is willing to lead again in the T20 World Cup, the BCCI may just agree to have this short-term arrangement as Hardik Pandya’s injury has disrupted succession planning in the shortest format of the game. While the Sharma-Dravid partnership has done well across formats, this may well be the duo’s last chance to win a World Cup in the white ball format.
But before the T20 World Cup, both captain and coach would like to win a Test series on South African soil, the first ever. India came agonisingly close in 2021 when Dravid was the coach. Incidentally, Dravid was the captain when India registered its first ever Test win in that country in 2006, and it will be in Dravid’s mind to have a historic Test series under his belt as coach. Remember, as captain, he was the last one to win a Test series in England in 2007 and was instrumental in India’s Test series win in the Caribbean in 2006, after a gap of 35 years.
In an ideal world, the BCCI would persist with the Dravid-Sharma pair until the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan as well the completion of the WTC cycle in 2025. Who knows, by then Dravid and Sharma may have won an ICC trophy in each format? And in between, there is a five-Test series in Australia next year as well—you want experienced campaigners when you take on the mighty Australians in their backyard.
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