Former India captain Rahul Dravid has agreed to take over as the head coach of the national team, news agency PTI reported, quoting sources. This comes as Ravi Shastri’s term is set to end after the T20 World Cup that takes place in October-November. 

“Yes, Rahul has agreed to coach the Indian team till 2023 World Cup. Initially, he was reluctant but it is understood that president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah had a meeting with Rahul on the sidelines of the IPL final where they were able to convince him,” a BCCI official, anonymous, told PTI. 

Also read: Dravid as coach, Dhoni as mentor: MSK Prasad’s picks for post Shastri-era

Rahul Dravid has been in charge of the India A and U-19 set-up for the past six years. He guided the U-19 team, Prithivi Shaw and co, to the World Cup in 2018. Last year, under his guidance, the team finished as runners up. He currently heads the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

“It won’t be an interim role,” the source added.

Apart from Dravid’s appointment, as per the PTI source, the BCCI is looking at Paras Mhambrey for the position of the bowling coach. Vikram Rathour is likely to continue as batting coach.

“Rohit will be 35 next year, Virat is days away from his 33rd birthday. Apart from them Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Ajinkya Rahane are all fantastic players but at some point during next two years, they will be phased out.

Also read: Watch: Dravid teach British High Commissioner a cricket expression in Kannada

“The players who are set to come in are mostly from the U-19 set-up. So it’s imperative that Dravid is appointed,” the source said.

Dravid coached the senior Indian limited over side during their tour of Sri Lanka. 

“Jay and Sourav spoke to him and it was about Dravid being convinced because it does need a lot of time as you need to be on the go constantly. But things went well and Dravid has always kept the interest of the Indian cricket on the top so it made things easier as the team would do well to have someone like him guiding the boys,” ANI reported, quoting a source.

Also read: T20 World Cup 2021: 5 players from all formats to watch out for

The BCCI will host the T20 World Cup in Oman and UAE. India will open its T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. 

Indian skipper Virat Kohli had also announced that he will be stepping down from the leadership role in the T20 format post the marquee tournament. There is no official word on his replacement as of now.