Former Committee of Administrators chairman Vinod Rai revealed that Rahul Dravid was in the fray to be appointed as head coach of the Indian cricket team in 2017 but the former captain turned the opportunity down.
In 2017, Kumble resigned as India head coach after a fallout with captain Virat Kohli. Ravi Shastri later replaced Kumble while Dravid was mentoring the Under-19 and India A cricket team during that time. Rai stated Dravid didn’t take up the job because he wanted to groom young cricketers.
“We definitely talked to Rahul [about the head coach’s job],” Rai told Sportskeeda during a live session on Facebook.
“He was engaged with the Under-19 team. He was very passionately involved with them and he made a roadmap on how to develop the team. He was bringing out fantastic results. He wanted to continue because he felt that there were some unfinished tasks with that team and he wanted to continue,” Rai added.
The veteran also revealed that Dravid felt he would not be able to fully commit to the Indian team, which was another reason he didn’t consider the offer. The Board of Control for Cricket in India later appointed the 47-year-old as the head of National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru last year.
Rai said: “Rahul was very upfront with us, he said, ‘look I have two boys growing up at home and I have been travelling with the Indian team all over the world and I am not able to give time and attention to them. I think I must stay at home also and give time to my family.’
“That was a very fair request and though he would have been uppermost in mind, Dravid continued to be with the U-19 team. We later made him the head coach at NCA. He was very kind and very gracious in accepting that and committing himself to the NCA.”
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