Rahul Dravid likely to be appointed as India's coach, will replace Ravi Shastri: Report

It has been learned that Rahul Dravid will be appointed as Head coach of the Indian cricket team after the end of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021. Ravi Shastri would be stepping down from the position after the conclusion of the showpiece event.

Rahul Dravid set to take over as India's Head Coach

Speaking to news agency ANI, sources in the know of developments have confirmed that the (National Cricket Association) NCA head Rahul Dravid is ready to take over as the national team coach.

"Dravid has agreed and it cannot get better. The other positions will now be looked into while Vikram stays as the batting coach. The Indian team is in a state of transition with youngsters coming in and they have all worked with Dravid and it will be all the more easier for Indian cricket to continue on its path to become world beaters on the pitch," the source said.

Dravid was always the preferred choice for the BCCI but it looks like it took BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to sit down and talk with the former captain before he agreed to wear the cap full-time after travelling to Sri Lanka with the team for the limited-overs series recently during the main team's tour of England.

"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," the source said.

Rahul Dravid's stint as India's Head Coach for U-19 Team

Rahul Dravid was appointed the head coach of India U-19 in 2016. He delivered quickly as India finished on top in two back-to-back editions of the ICC U-19 World Cups held in 2016 and 2018 respectively. India had a dream run in the 2016 edition that was played in Bangladesh as they marched to the finals. However, they went down to a spirited West Indies team in a high-voltage summit clash. Wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan captained the Indian side.

Two years later, another India U-19 team led by Prithvi Shaw steamrolled all the teams and enjoyed an unbeaten run in the tournament hosted in New Zealand. In the end, the Boys In Blue overcame Australia in a one-sided finale to win their record fourth ICC U-19 World Cup title. Dravid has also made multiple tours with the India-A side from 2016 to 2019. After his successful stint with the junior level teams, Dravid was appointed the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy in July 2019, and since then, he has been responsible for the overall development of players who visit the facility in Bangalore to train.