India’s former skipper Rahul Dravid, once called ‘The Wall’, has been appointed the new head coach of the national cricket team.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that the 48-year-old will take charge of the Indian cricket team from the home series against New Zealand, which begins on November 17.
The incumbent coach, Ravi Shastri’s tenure as India’s head coach ends with the ICC T20 World Cup, currently underway in the Gulf states of the UAE and Oman.
“The Cricket Advisory Committee comprising Ms Sulakshana Naik and Mr RP Singh on Wednesday unanimously appointed Mr Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach of Team India (Senior Men),” the BCCI said in a statement.
“The former India captain will take charge from the upcoming home series against New Zealand. The BCCI had invited applications for the said position on October 26 to appoint Mr Ravi Shastri’s successor, whose term gets over after the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup,” it added.
Dravid, on his part, said that “it’s an absolute honour to be appointed as the new head coach of the Indian Cricket Team and I am really looking forward to this role”.
The former Indian skipper also lauded Shastri, saying under his leadership, “the team has done very well, and I hope to work with the team to take this forward”.
“Having worked closely with most of the boys either at NCA, U19 and India A setup, I know they have the passion and desire to improve every day. There are some marquee multi-team events in the next two years, and I look forward to working with the players and the support staff to achieve our potential,” Dravid said in the statement.
Popularly known as “Mr Dependable”, Dravid, alongside BCCI chief Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, were part of a formidable batting line-up that steered India to win many matches at home and abroad. All have retired from cricket.
Dravid made his Test debut against England in 1996 with a brilliant knock of 95 at Lord’s. In a career spanning 16 years, Dravid scored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests. He accumulated 10,889 runs in 344 one-day internationals.
Not only Shastri, India’s charismatic skipper Virat Kohli will also step down as the country’s T20 international captain after the T20 World Cup.
Source: United News of Bangladesh