Dravid to be the coach of U-19, ‘A’ teams

June 30, 2017 06:33 pm | Updated 09:28 pm IST - Mumbai:

In charge: Rahul Dravid will be available to the under-19 and ‘A’ teams as coach for two years.

In charge: Rahul Dravid will be available to the under-19 and ‘A’ teams as coach for two years.

Former India captain, Rahul Dravid, who has played a part in shaping the careers of India’s junior teams from 2015 to 2017, has given his consent to be the coach of India under-19 and India ‘A’ team for two years (2017-2019).

With the Committee of Administrators (CoA) insisting on a 12-month or 24 month contract in order to avoid any trace of conflict of interests issues between coaching and mentoring national junior teams and franchise-owned IPL teams, Dravid will be available to the junior teams on a permanent basis for 24 continuous months. The BCCI is also likely to ask him to plan development programmes.

The agreement between the BCCI and Dravid will mean that the former India captain will not be associated with the 11th and 12th seasons of the IPL.

Clearly he has been offered a compensation package that would be more than double the sum he received during his first two years. The BCCI would not want to disclose the money part of the contract though.

The BCCI confirmed Dravid’s appointment as coach for a two-year period on Friday, after a conference call between him, BCCI acting secretary, Amitabh Choudhary, GM Game Development, Ratnakar Shetty and CEO Rahul Johri. Dravid had a meeting with the BCCI officials here last Sunday.

Dravid’s contract was quite different from the one offered to Anil Kumble, who was compelled to quit, after the India captain Virat Kohli told the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) after the ICC Champions Trophy that he could not work with Kumble as Head Coach.

The CAC did not consider Kohli’s grievances serious enough and told the BCCI that it did not find reasons enough to make a change.

Dravid’s previous contract had an extension clause and the CAC did not waste time to appreciate the good work done by him and gave the green signal to extend his contract. This was done when the ICC Champions Trophy was in progress.

A BCCI release said: “The former India captain (Dravid) was first appointed as the coach for the two teams in 2015 and under his leadership the youngsters have achieved outstanding results, at home and away. In his first assignment as coach, the ‘A’ side won the triangular series in Australia which also had South Africa as the third team. He repeated that success with the Under-19 team as well, guiding them to the final of the World Cup in 2016.”

Dravid’s immediate assignment will be with the India under-19 team that will tour England to play ODIs and four-day matches and thereafter in South Africa for a triangular tournament featuring the ‘A’ teams of India, South Africa and Australia. The India ‘A’ team will also play two four-day games against South Africa ‘A’ team.

The BCCI acting president C.K. Khanna said, “Over the last two years, Rahul Dravid has been instrumental in getting young talent into the mix who have proved their worth on the big stage. We are glad to continue his services for the next two years and are sure that this is a bright sign for Indian cricket which will see many more young talents coming up in the future.”

Amitabh Choudhary said, “Rahul Dravid is known for the discipline and commitment he brings to the table. He has been successful in grooming the youngsters in the last two years. I wish him all the very best for his assignments with the two teams for the next two years.”

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