After three unsuccessful attempts, BCCI manages to convince Rahul Dravid to take up Team India coaching job, waiting for his confirmation | Cricket News – Times of India

MUMBAI: As the final of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 14th edition got played in the UAE on Friday evening, top BCCI officials were locked in a long meeting with a special ‘spectator’ who had travelled there for the game – Rahul Dravid.
The former India captain and batting legend, who has refused the Team India coaching offer multiple times, found himself once again in the room with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and treasurer Arun Dhumal who put the offer back on the table.
Dravid had his share of concerns. He has family responsibilities in Bangalore, children are still in school and much needs to be done at the domestic level – he tried to convince the BCCI. He was happy handling the responsibilities at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).
The BCCI, nevertheless, insisted. The meeting went on for long.
“The Board told him, he can’t continue at the NCA at the same salary. It’s not feasible. And moreover, the BCCI has not been able to find a coach of a similar stature. If he wants to continue working with Indian cricket, then taking the Team India job is going to be his only option”, top sources in the know told TOI.
Dravid was on his way back to India and still hadn’t given the BCCI a clear ‘yes’. However, those in the know say he wants to be associated with Indian cricket and therefore will say yes to a two-year contract starting November 2021.
It can be confirmed that BCCI asked Ricky Ponting to come on board and the former Australian captain refused. The Indian candidates in the fray were Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman. Given Kumble’s past controversies with Virat Kohli and Laxman’s lack of experience as full-time coach, the offers couldn’t be made.
“Rahul was the only ideal candidate. The challenge was making him agree to it. Truth be told, there’s no other choice”, sources added.
The BCCI has gone and made this offer to Dravid even before putting a new Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) in place because they want Dravid to say yes to putting his CV forward for the role. Eventually, the newly formed CAC will do the necessary interviews and decide who the coach is.
“After the head coach is appointed, he will sit with the CAC and work on the new support staff. I can tell you, Rahul has been left with no choice. He will have to say yes unless he doesn’t mind not working with Indian cricket anymore,” sources added.
Dravid is likely to give his official reply before the weekend is over, following which the BCCI will bring out an advert in the coming week and appoint the CAC.
BCCI confirming to Dravid that they would like him to have the job is not in line with its earlier policy that CAC alone can appoint the new coach based on applications. However, as sources point out, the BCCI has been left with no choice because there are not enough candidates of a similar stature in the fray and therefore, the Board has found it imperative to convince Dravid.
Meanwhile, the Board’s search for the new NCA director will continue. The NCA will also require a new full-time support staff and the new director that gets appointed will take over the responsibilities of finding the right individuals for those roles.