India's heart-breaking defeat in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia will reportedly be Rahul Dravid's last game as the men's cricket team head coach. Dravid has apparently decided not to renew his contract and told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as much. (2023 ODI World Cup | Cricket News)
Dravid's close friend VVS Laxman, who is currently helming the heavily-depleted Indian team that is set to take on Australia for five T20 internationals, will take over as the new India head coach, as per a Times Of India report.
"Dravid has communicated to the BCCI that he isn't keen to to continue as a full-time coach. For close to 20 years, he has travelled with the Indian team as a player, and for the past couple of years, he again went through the same grind, which he doesn't want to undergo," the report quoted a BCCI source as saying.
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"He's fine with a role at the NCA as the head there (a role he previously served in), which will allow him to stay back in his hometown Bengaluru. Like earlier, he's fine with coaching the team sporadically, but not again as a full-time coach," the source added.
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Dravid had earlier said he needed some time to introspect on his future with the Indian team, even as his two-year contract with them ended on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
Asked about whether he wishes to coninue coaching the team, Dravid had then said he hadn't thought about it yet. "I've just come off a game. I had no time to think about this and no time to reflect on this. Yeah, I will when I get the time to do that," he had said after India lost to Australia in the big-ticket final.
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Laxman has expressed his keenness for the job, the report further mentioned. "During the World Cup, Laxman travelled to Ahmedabad to meet the BCCI's top bosses in this regard. He's likely to sign a long-time contract as the Team India coach, and will certainly travel with the team in that capacity for the upcoming tour of South Africa, which will be his first as full-time India head coach," the aforementioned source said.
Former stylish right-handed batter Laxman was the interim head coach during the Ireland T20I series in August this year and the white-ball series against New Zealand after the T20 World Cup last year.
