The Board of Control for Cricket in India has denied that it recommended the name of India Under-19 and A-team coach Rahul Dravid for the Dronacharya award this year, according to a report in The Hindu.
The BCCI had stopped sending recommendations for the Dronacharya award after multiple coaches claimed credit for a player’s success. The last two cricket coaches who received the national award, Ramakant Achrekar and Rajkumar Sharma, were nominated by their wards, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli respectively.
However, the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators’ chief Vinod Rai was quoted as saying last week that Dravid’s nomination for the national award given for excellence in coaching had been confirmed. “Yes, we have sent a number of nominations in various categories to the government. Rahul is the BCCI nominee for the Dronacharya award,” Rai was quoted as saying by PTI.
But an unnamed BCCI official told The Hindu that this was not the case and categorically denied that Dravid had been recommended for the award. The former India captain has been in charge of the youth and A-teams for the last two years. India won the U-19 World Cup earlier this year under his watch.
Reports last week also stated that former captain Sunil Gavaskar’s name had been recommended for the Dhyan Chand lifetime achievement award. However, the legendary batsman isn’t eligible for the award since he has already won the Arjuna Award in 1975. Any sportsperson who has been conferred with either the Arjuna or Dronacharya awards is not eligible for the Dhyan Chand award, according to the report.
