Reports: Rahul Dravid likely to be the interim coach of the Indian cricket team for home series against New Zealand

After the ICC T20 World Cup, the Indian men’s cricket team is expected to have an interim coach for the forthcoming home series against New Zealand, and former India captain Rahul Dravid has emerged as the favourite to fill the post.

Ravi Shastri’s tenure as Team India’s senior coach will end after the T20 World Cup, and the Indian cricket board has opted to take additional time in finding a replacement. The BCCI, according to reports, wants to choose an experienced former India player as the chief coach, despite the fact that numerous foreigners, including some Australians, have expressed interest. It was expected by Anil Kumble to take up the post after he was forced to resign due to issues with skipper Virat Kohli, but the famous cricketer had recused himself. He is now the head coach of the Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League.

According to insiders, the BCCI wanted Dravid, who is the coach of India’s youth teams and also runs the National Cricket Academy, to assume the post full-time, but he declined since he does not want to travel too much.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the board has approached various persons and has realised that its coach selection process may take longer than it had anticipated. The BCCI is said to have avoided posting an advertisement to prevent an uncomfortable situation in which it receives a large number of applications but none from someone it thinks suitable. This simply implies that it may receive applications from some high-profile international coaches but not from similarly-rated Indians, and hence will be unable to provide an adequate explanation for selecting a relatively lightweight Indian coach while disregarding the big-name foreigners.