Will Rahul Dravid Remain the Head Coach? Latest Update on his Status:
Things for the Indian Cricket team have been cruel lately. A disgraceful clean sweep in the semi-finals of the recently wrapped up T20 World cup at the hands of the English team was followed by myriads of criticism from fans, gurus and former cricketers. However, the downward-sloping of the team came nowhere near the end. The World cup exit was followed by a series defeat by the Kiwis and recently Bangladesh trounced the men in blue and presented to them a defeat for ages.
This has further stirred the critics who were already busy lambasting the team management. The calls for sacking the coach or introducing split captaincy and coaching have grown louder. As per a report, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is very likely to surrender to these demands as news of removing Rahul Dravid, India’s current Head coach across formats, from coaching the T20 side is making rounds.
According to the details of the report from the BCCI Headquarters, Dravid will carry on performing his duties in Tests and ODIs but a new coach for T20Is will be appointed at the earliest. The information also stated that India’s T20I series against Sri Lanka next month will see the team being led and coached by new appointments. A BCCI official confirming the news told Inside Sports, “T20 is a different sport. It has a tough calendar and regular events. The board wants Dravid to focus on ODIs and Tests, while the new coach handles just the T20Is. I can confirm that India will soon have a new coach.”
Rahul Dravid joined the Indian team as a Head coach in November last year after the team’s early exit from the T20 World cup of 2021, replacing the then Head coach Ravi Shastri.
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The debate regarding split captaincy and coaching in the Indian team has been taking place for a while now. Many people support the idea of dividing the responsibility of captaincy and coaching across the formats keeping in view the increased number of matches in the FTP of almost all top-ranked teams. The need for it has never been more for the team in blue as their jam-packed schedule, clearly, is taking a toll on the players. Andy Flower, former Zimbabwean cricketer, threw his weightage behind the idea of splitting captaincy and coaching responsibilities as well. Flower said, “For some countries it [splitting the roles] is not needed. For bigger countries who are playing tons of cricket, players specializing makes sense. It would also make sense from a coaching point of view and a lifestyle and health point of view. Being on the road, living in hotels for two or three quarters in a year, that is not a healthy thing for families and relationships.”
As of now, the English team is the only team among the top teams, who has different coaches for red and white ball cricket. In purest format of cricket, Brendon McCullum coaches the England players while Mathew Mott is their white ball coach. However for the India Team, it remains yet to be seen as to who will take the reins of the side as a coach in T20Is.