Rahul Dravid To Continue As India Under-19 And India 'A' Coach

The story:

Former India skipper Rahul Dravid will continue plying his services as India A and Under-19 coach for the next two years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Friday (June 30). Dravid’s contract had expired earlier this year but the board did not invite any fresh applications for the position like it has done for the senior team and decided to extend the batting legend’s contract following a very successful spell.

Dravid took charge of India’s junior teams in 2015 and guided the Under-19 side to the final in Bangladesh a year later. He also guided India ‘A’ to victory in the Quadrangular series in Australia involving Australia A, South Africa A and National Performance Squad. But apart from the results, one of Dravid’s biggest contributions have been identifying the young talents and grooming them.

Rahul Dravid To Continue As India Under-19 And India 'A' Coach
Image credits: Getty

CK Khanna, BCCI’s acting president, paid tribute to Dravid for his services and expressed his delight over the contract extension.

“Over the last two years, Rahul Dravid has been instrumental in getting young talent into the mix who have proved their worth on the big stage. We are glad to continue his services for the next two years and are sure that this is a bright sign for Indian cricket which will see many more young talents coming up in the future,” Khanna said.

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No more stint in Indian Premier League:

Dravid, who apart from being the coach of national sides also served as the mentor for Delhi Daredevils,  would not continue in his role as Delhi Daredevils’ mentor, in accordance with the conflict-of-interest rules. The franchise confirmed the news through an official statement.

Rahul Dravid To Continue As India Under-19 And India 'A' Coach
Image credits: Delhi Daredevils

“It was an honour and privilege to have Rahul Dravid as Mentor of the Delhi Daredevils over the last two years. We truly enjoyed our association and nurtured some great young talent together. We are sad that he will not continue with us as Mentor as he chooses to serve India A as a coach. Being a true servant of Cricket he believes he still has a lot to give back to the game and help nurture young India talent. We wish him all the best,” read a statement from Daredevils.

First assignment:

Dravid’s first assignment after getting the contract extension will be India A’s tour of South Africa starting from July 26.

(READ: Krunal Pandya, Basil Thampi Earn Maiden India ‘A’ Call-Up, Manish Pandey To Lead)

The squads for the One-Day and four-day games were announced yesterday with Manish Pandey and Karun Nair given the responsibility of leading the teams respectively.

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