Published: Jun 03, 2015, 04:08 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 03, 2015, 05:48 PM (IST)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had created a three-man advisory committee with Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman as the members. They have also reportedly offered Rahul Dravid an ‘important post’ in current set up of Indian cricket. There are various speculations about his role. Sandipan Banerjee feels Rahul Dravid’s experience will be better utilised to maintain the Supply-Chain of Indian cricket.
Indian cricket is going through a bit of an uncertain phase these days. The team does not have a head coach at present. Prior to Ravi Shastri‘s appointment as Team Director for the upcoming Bangladesh series, the team was like a noisy classroom without a teacher. READ: Rahul Dravid likely to coach India Under-19 and India A: Report
Former Coach Duncan Fletcher‘s contract had ended 63 days back but the most influential cricket board of world cricket, BCCI are yet to appoint a successor. They cannot be blamed for this. They did their part of approaching to the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid first, which was very sensible. But this approach didn’t work out.
BCCI’s first choice man Ganguly has his problems. As coach or Team Director, Ganguly has to dedicate a lot of time and travel extensively. But because of his media commitments and association with other sports, “Dada” chose to be on the advisory committee, rather than with the team.
Now the next choice was Dravid. He was briefly associated with the Indian team as a batting consultant during the 2014 England Tour. He has a good equation with current team and players like Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli have spoken highly about Dravid’s contributions. His recent success story with Rajasthan Royals has increased his chances. READ: Rahul Dravid to help BCCI ‘when the time comes’, says Anurag Thakur
But there is a twist in the tale.
According to recent reports published in some sections of Indian media, Dravid is not looking to be at the helm of things of Indian cricket at this moment. He is more interested to work at the junior and India A levels.
This columnist believes that this is actually blessing in disguise for Indian cricket. Dravid — a supreme technician in his days, has been a huge inspiration for the young and upcoming cricketers, who has grown up watching him play. The senior team under Kohli, on the other hand, needs guidance more than technical help, which is something a Shastri or a Ganguly can provide them with.
Dravid is known to enjoy working with younger bunch of players. His guidance to players like KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Deepak Hooda and others has produced positive results. It is time to use his experience at a broader spectrum. Players like Sarfraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer, Baba Aparajith and others are the future of Indian cricket. Dravid can be the best person to guide them now, both technically and mentally.
For India A he can even work with men like Manoj Tiwary, Naman Ojha, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey — men who have had stop-start careers so far. READ: Sourav Ganguly to replace Ravi Shastri as Team India Director: Reports
With the Under-19 World Cup to be played next year, the time is perfect for Dravid to rise into the scheme of things in junior cricket. Indian cricket certainly wants him now.
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
