Former captain Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the head coach of India, the BCCI announced on Wednesday.
He was picked by the Cricket Advisory Committee comprising former India pacer RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik.
“It is 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,” said Dravid after his appointment.
“Under Mr Shastri, 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.”
Under Shastri, India won a series in Australia for the first time in 2018-19 and yet again on their subsequent tour in 2020-21. They also won all seven Test series at home and blanked New Zealand 5-0 in a T20I series away from home – the first time a team was whitewashed in a five-game series.
“Rahul has had an illustrious playing career and is one of the greats of the game. He has also served Indian cricket as Head of National Cricket Academy (NCA) with distinction,” said Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI President.
“Rahul’s effort at the NCA has nurtured several young cricketing talents who have gone on to represent the country at the international stage. I am hopeful that his new stint will take Indian cricket to new heights.”
The BCCI had invited applications for the post of the head coach late last month and Dravid was the front-runner to get it.
