Barbados/Hyderabad: Former India batter Rahul Dravid ended his career as the head coach of the Indian Cricket Team after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2024.
It was a fairytale ending for Dravid, a Test specialist and one of the finest batters of his era, as India defeated South Africa by 7 runs in the pulsating summit clash played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Rahul Dravid has taken up the coach of the Indian Cricket Team succeeding former India all-rounder and noted commentator Ravi Shashtri and the series against New Zealand was his first assignment.
Dravid, who was the head of the Bengaluru-based National Cricket Academy and the India U-19 team then took the role of the senior team. His first tenure ended after the ICC ODI 2023 World Cup, which ended in a heartbreak as India lost to eventual champions Australia. Despite the loss, the BCCI gave him an extension till the end of the T20 World Cup 2024. Under Dravid as the head coach, India achieved considerable success in all three formats of the game - the T20s, ODIs and Tests.
The players have a lot of respect for Rahul Dravid and were keen to win an ICC Trophy for 'The Wall', who was fondly known as 'Jammy' during his playing days. In his entire career as a player, Rahul Dravid could not win any ICC Trophy and it was during his captaincy, that India were knocked out of the ICC ODI World Cup held in 2007 in the West Indies in the first round.
Dravid as the U-19 head coach won the U-19 World Cup when the Prithvi Shaw-led Indian team won the title in 2018. The Indian team players were keen to win the ODI World Cup title for Dravid, who resides in Bengaluru, but that did not happen. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has made clear that if Dravid wishes to continue he would have to reapply. However, the former right-handed batter did not apply and India will get a new coach.
Thus the T20 World Cup win was a happy ending for Dravid, who represented Karnataka in the domestic circuit.
