Rahul Dravid appointed Indian head coach; Paras Mhambrey appointed bowling coach - Reports

In a massive development, legendary Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the next head coach of the Indian cricket team.

According to a report published in TOI, a top BCCI official said that Dravid has committed to succeeding current coach Ravi Shastri. Dravid is likely to soon step down as head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

The official said in this regard:

"Dravid has confirmed he will be the next head coach of the Indian team. He will be stepping down as the head of the NCA soon,”

Dravid will assume charge of his coaching duties with the home series against New Zealand, which starts three days after the T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, Shastri's second stint with Team India ends with the quadrennial event.

Rahul Dravid's stint will reportedly run until the end of the 50-over World Cup in 2023. His contract could be worth Rs 10 crore.

"He has worked so hard to develop the next line of Indian cricketers" - BCCI official on Rahul Dravid

The development comes as a massive surprise, as there were reports about Dravid 'politely refusing' BCCI's offer in the last few days.

The BCCI was due to start the hiring process for a new head coach this week. But secretary Jay Shah and president Sourav Ganguly were in favour of getting someone like Dravid. The latter has spent a long time shaping the feeder line of budding cricketers, so he has been deemed the right man to take Indian cricket forward.

"He was re-appointed as the NCA head last month. But the BCCI needed a strong candidate to take Indian cricket forward. He has worked so hard to develop the next line of Indian cricketers," said the official.

Dravid's trusted lieutenant Paras Mhambrey will likely take over as bowling coach, while a decision is yet to be taken on replacing fielding coach R. Sridhar. Meanwhile, Vikram Rathour should continue as the batting coach.

"Even Mhambrey knows this next lot of players like the back of his hand. So, Ganguly and Shah thought it would be best if they could bring both of them on board. They will assume charge from the New Zealand series after the World Cup,” the source added.

Dravid made his international coaching debut earlier this year when Shikhar Dhawan led a second-string Indian team against Sri Lanka. While Dravid made a great start to his international coaching career with an ODI series win, it ended on a disappointing note as a COVID-19-plagued Indian team lost the T20I rubber 1-2.

The legendary No.3 batter previously coached the Prithvi Shaw-led U19 team to a World Cup win in 2018.