The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is preparing a significant change in the leadership of the Indian cricket team. The important position of head coach for the senior men’s team will soon have an advertisement requesting applications released by the board, as disclosed by BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Rahul Dravid, who assumed the position as head coach in November 2021, is under contract until June 2024. Shah affirmed that Dravid is welcome to reapply for the job should he choose to keep leading the gifted Indian team.
The BCCI is still accepting applications from applicants outside of the country, meanwhile, and is keeping its options open.
“Rahul’s contract only lasts until June. Thus, the BCCI secretary responded, as cited by Cricbuzz, “He is free to apply if he wants to.”
“It is unknown to us if the next coach will be an international or Indian. Since the CAC is an international organization, they will make that decision.
Also read: For the 2024 T20 World Cup, Amitabh Bachchan delivers a strong message to the Men in Blue
The newly hired head coach will be consulted before decisions are made regarding the coaching staff, which will include the batting, bowling, and fielding coaches. Shah predicted that the BCCI would choose to have a single coach for all formats, in contrast to boards like the ECB and PCB, which have separate coaches for each format.
The CAC will make that determination as well. A few examples of all-format players are Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant. Furthermore, such a scenario has never happened before in India,” he added.
A three-year contract will be offered to the new head coach.
Indicating a long-term commitment to the chosen candidate, Shah revealed that the Men in Blue’s new head coach will be hired on a three-year deal. The board’s desire for consistency and stability in the Indian team’s leadership is evident in this decision.
After the 2023 ODI World Cup, Dravid’s original contract was supposed to expire. However, he was given an extension until the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies. India reached the top of the Test (now second) and ODI, as well as the T20I, rankings during Dravid’s time as head coach.
They placed second in the 2023 World Test Championship and the 2023 ODI World Cup; however, they were unable to win any ICC trophies. They were also semi-finalists in the 2022 T20 World Cup. India had an especially strong ODI World Cup campaign; they won all nine of their league games and the semifinal before falling to Australia in the championship match.