Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar expressed optimism over Rahul Dravid’s appointment as the new head coach of the Indian cricket team and felt his vast experience at the highest level could hugely benefit the team.
Dravid who was the Director at the National Cricket Academy after coaching the India A and U-19 sides will take over from Ravi Shastri in the role after the T20 World Cup.
“Indian cricket should be going ahead and ahead,” Gavaskar told India Today when asked which direction Indian cricket will take under Dravid.
“He will bring his vast experience, the work ethic that he embodied when he played the game, the deep thinking about tactics and so on,” he added.
Gavaskar also felt that the timing of the appointment couldn’t have been better as it will allow Dravid plenty of time to analyse the situation.
“After this tournament is over you’ve got to have a new coach and the earlier he is appointed, the better it is because he will also get time to plan. And so this move of appointing him today is a very good move because it has given him some time before the tournament finishes,” Gavaskar said.
“There are still two more matches that India have to play. Right now it is time for Dravid to take stock of the situation after watching the matches and he will then decide what is best for Indian cricket,” added Gavaskar.
India host New Zealand for a three-match T20I series and two-match Test series immediately after the T20 World Cup which will be Dravid’s first assignment as a coach. Apart from continuing India’s dominance in bilateral series, Dravid will be tasked with smoothly transitioning India’s T20I captaincy with Virat Kohli set to step down from the role after the T20 World Cup.