Sourav Ganguly Tells How BCCI Got Rahul Dravid As Head Coach- Snippets Inside

Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President, claimed that it required a lot of persuasions to get Rahul Dravid to coach the Indian cricket team. Dravid has been with the BCCI since 2015 but didn’t want to be the national team’s coach.

Rahul Dravid joined Team India’s coaching staff in November 2021 as head coach for two years. After Ravi Shastri’s tenure ended, the ICC Hall of Famer was tipped to succeed him. Dravid began his two-year tenure with three T20Is against New Zealand, which India won 3-0.

While Dravid’s hiring pleased supporters, the BCCI had to be persuaded to hire the great. Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, told Boria Majumdar that Dravid declined the post since the squad travels for 8-9 months.

During the IPL, national coaches get to stay home for a month. In addition to the time away from home, being on the road for 8-9 months a year, and having two small children, Rahul was reluctant to accept the offer.

“We gave up, and he was named head of NCA (National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru) to oversee and progress. We had done his interview and application, and he was assigned to the NCA. However, we continued demanding even after he was appointed. The BCCI could have done better in terms of coaching when Ravi [Shastri] departed, but he accepted.”

Dravid joined the BCCI full-time system in 2015. He coached the India A and U-19 teams for four years. Several Indian A players made their international debuts under him. In 2018, the U-19 squad won the World Cup. Dravid became the chairman of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in 2019. The former India captain has made a good start and hopes long run.