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Planning for the 2030 Commonwealth Games has started in India. The Commonwealth Games Organizing Company (OC) Board has planned to include former India cricket captain and coach Rahul Dravid and Saina Nehwal as directors of the OC. However, there has been no confirmation on whether they will take up the role or not. They are nominated from the sports sector.
Rahul Dravid is not currently associated with any national team and has been out of a coaching tenure. He was last seen with Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2025, and after that, he was sacked by the franchise. Dravid serves as chairman and co-owner of the Dublin Guardians franchise in the European T20 Premier League (ETPL), working alongside Ravichandran Ashwin.
Rahul Dravid appointed as key member of Commonwealth Games from Sports sector
As per reports from the Indian Express, the Union Sports Ministry officially selected Nehwal and Dravid this week as the two members from the sporting circle. Apart from that, Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Titans owner and also the managing director of Torrent Power, Jinal Mehta, and Ananya Birla have been nominated as the two members elected from the private sector.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi is going to be the chairman of the committee. Union sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao and PT Usha, the Indian Olympic Association president who is also the head of the Commonwealth Games Association of India, are set to be the vice-chairpersons. Senior bureaucrat M Thennarasan, who is the secretary in the Gujarat government, has been appointed CEO.
Is Rahul Dravid associated with multinational sporting events?
“The idea is to get good, credible names in the governance structure,” a source said. “Rahul and Saina come with impeccable credibility. Their inclusion will bring athletes’ voice to the planning and delivery phase.”
Interestingly, after the Indian Express tried to reach out Rahul Dravid on seeking clarification on the matter both him and Saina did not reply. So now the thing stands in an unbalanced manner on whether the former India head coach will take up the new role from the ministry. He is yet to break his silence on the matter.
This is not the first time that Dravid has been associated with multinational events. He has previously been associated with the development of India’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In 2014, he joined the Board of Advisors of GoSports Foundation, which is a sports non-profit organisation, and launched the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme.
Rahul Dravid's record as India head coach
Rahul took over the India head coach role in late 2021. He, after taking up the head coach role helped India to qualify for the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Under him, the team won 48 of the 69 matches in the T20I format and won the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies.
In the ODIs, the duo of Rohit Sharma and Dravid led the side to the 2023 ODI World Cup final, losing to Australia. They won as many as 41 of the 56 ODIs in this time frame; this showcased their domination in the ODIs. The team also won 14 Test matches out of 24 under his tenure and qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final.
