‘I haven’t signed anything yet…’: Rahul Dravid as coaching tenure suspense grows | Cricket

A day after the BCCI decided to give Rahul Dravid and the rest of the support staff an extension with the Indian cricket team, the head coach offered a fresh twist to the development as he remained mum around the tenure of his new contract. Dravid will continue to remain Team India head coach, but for how long remains a mystery. Dravid, who was in Delhi along with the BCCI chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar to pick India’s squads for the T20I, ODI and Test series against South Africa, informed reporters that he is yet to sign any official document, adding to the suspense around the length of his new stint.

“Nothing’s out officially. I haven’t signed anything as yet so once I get the papers, we will discuss it. And maybe then you can…” Dravid told reporters as they tried to get an answer out of him before entering the car, a video of which was posted on PTI’s X handle.

It is believed that Dravid will continue till the T20 World Cup 2024, his and India’s third shot at winning a World Cup in three years. In 2022, India lost to England in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in Australia and just 10 days ago, finished runner-up at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. It’s imperative to take note that winning the Asia Cup on September and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in March-April, are the only two major piece of silverware India have won under Dravid.

With VVS Laxman taking command of the T20I squad that is currently playing a five-match series against Australia at home, Dravid will return to the job starting India’s all-format tour of South Africa, which commences December 10 with the T20Is. This will mark Dravid’s first assignment of his fresh stint. He was the head coach in 2021 as well when India toured South Africa for Tests and ODIs but lost both to return home empty-handed.

Following the SA tour what winds up on January 7, Dravid will oversee proceedings as England come to India for a full-fledged five-Test series, to be played across Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Rajkot, Ranchi and Dharamsala. By the time the series concludes in mid-March, Dravid will receive a break due to the 17th season of IPL. In between, Afghanistan will also visit India to play three T20Is from January 11.

Immediately after the IPL is the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, which will run from June 3 to June 30. India are also slated to tour Australia at the end of the year, and in a year highlighted by Test cricket, it will be very interesting to see whether Dravid stretched beyond the ICC event. While the BCCI is eager for Dravid to extend his tenure, the ultimate decision hinges on whether “The Wall” himself desires it.

Since his retirement in 2012, Dravid has been actively engaged in Indian cricket, initially as the coach for Under-19 and A teams, and later as the director at the National Cricket Academy. In addition, he contributed as a broadcaster around 2014. He of course replaced Ravi Shastri as coach in November of 2021 but not before being persuaded by his former India teammate, captain and the then-serving BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.