5 Legendary Indian Players Who Can Become The Next Head Coach Of Team India

Team India will soon be on the lookout for a new head coach to replace the incumbent Ravi Shastri once his tenure ends after the culmination of the ICC World T20 later this year.

Shastri, who was appointed as Team India’s head coach back in 2017, had got a two-year extension in his role post the 2019 World Cup.

And, while he has done brilliantly well during his second stint- the Test series win in Australia being the highest point of his tenure- he will not another extension in his stint due to the Lodha Committee recommendations that mandate any BCCI office-bearer to go into a six-year cooling-off period following his/her consecutive stints. Shastri has led Team India as director between 2014-16 before taking over as head coach in 2017.

So, who can possibly be the one who can replace Coach Ravi Shastri?

Here’s a look at 5 legendary Indian Players who can become the next Head Coach of Team India:

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag was one of the candidates who had applied for Team India’s coaching stint back in 2017.

Sehwag had made a last-minute submission of his candidature for the coveted job but he eventually ended up losing to current coach Ravi Shastri.

Sehwag has had the experience of coaching IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab in the past. Will that experience help him get the Indian coaching job provided he applies for the same? We’ll have to wait and see.

Ashish Nehra

Another former Indian international who could be in the race of coaching the national team could be former seamer, Ashish Nehra.

Nehra does not have any past experience of coaching an international or domestic team but he has worked alongside skipper Virat Kohli in his capacity as bowling coach of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL.

Will that experience help him grab the job of Indian head coach?

Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan was initially picked as Team India’s bowling coach in 2017 until Bharat Arun eventually replaced him.

Zaheer has worked as Mumbai Indians bowling coach as well as its Director of Cricket- a post he currently enjoys in the IPL.

It will be interesting to see if the left-arm pacer applies for the Team India head coach job following the expiry of Shastri’s tenure.

VVS Laxman

Another former Indian international who could be one of the contenders for the Indian team’s head coach post is stylish Indian batsman VVS Laxman.

Laxman is a hugely respected cricketer in the Indian cricket circles and one of his qualities that could go in his favor as far as getting the aforementioned post is that he loves to stay in the background and is not someone who’d try to hog the limelight.

The former Indian cricketer has worked in his capacity as a mentor of IPL franchise SunRisers Hyderabad for a few years now and it will be interesting to see if he applies for the job when the opportunity arrives.

Rahul Dravid

Last but not the least, Rahul Dravid is another former Indian cricketer who could end up being the head coach of the national team.

Dravid was approached by the BCCI to take the head coach post in 2016 but the former Indian captain instead decided to hone the skills of upcoming cricketers by taking up the post of the head coach of India U-19 and India A.

Dravid’s stint as India U-19/A coach has proved to be a boon for Indian cricket as so many young cricketers have grown into match-winner under the coaching of the calm-and-composed former Indian skipper.

Dravid will lead the second-string Indian team in his capacity as head coach during the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and murmurs have already started as to whether the former Indian captain will eventually take up the role of coaching the senior team once Ravi Shastri’s tenure comes to an end.